Beijing expects zero new COVID-19 cases in about a week
The chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Wú Zūnyǒu 吴尊友, said on Monday that he was optimistic that Beijing would have zero new infections of COVID-19 in roughly a week, as authorities continued to conduct citywide testing and cut chains of local transmission.
The chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Wú Zūnyǒu 吴尊友, said on Monday that he was optimistic that Beijing would have zero new infections of COVID-19 in roughly a week, as authorities continued to conduct citywide testing and cut chains of local transmission.
Wu, who has been in charge of briefing the public on the recent outbreak in Beijing in the past few weeks, gave the forecast during an interview (in Chinese) with China Central Television (CCTV) on June 29. He stated that most of the patients accounting for recent COVID-19 cases in the capital have been put under strict quarantine, and Beijing was expected to bring new cases down to zero in about a week. Wu added that there might be sporadic cases in July, but Beijing was predicted to become free of COVID-19 by the end of next month.
“As we get closer to the final victory, we need to stay vigilant and continue practicing the necessary measures to prevent the spread of COVID 19,” Wu said.
The city of more than 20 million people has been battling a new wave of COVID-19 infections since a cluster of new cases linked to a local wholesale food market broke out around mid-June. In order to contain the virus’s spread, the Chinese capital rolled out mass nucleic acid testing for the coronavirus and implemented a series of sweeping measures, including closing schools, imposing lockdowns on residential neighborhoods, and canceling flights.
As of yesterday, Beijing has tested about a third of its population for the virus and discovered a total of 311 COVID-19 patients, according to the latest official figures (in Chinese).
While the city ordered most businesses to close, Beijing’s education authorities announced that this year’s annual college entrance exam, the gaokao (高考 gāokǎo), would take place as planned. On July 7 and 8, about 10.7 million students across the country will sit for the exam in various locations.
During a press conference today, Lǐ Yì 李奕, a spokesperson for Beijing’s Ministry of Education, said (in Chinese) that local schools and health departments had been monitoring the exam takers’ health status closely. On the days of the exam, students are required to have their temperatures checked before entering test sites. The education bureau also ordered exam locations to limit the number of people in each room to 20.
