Beijing residents less worried as new virus cases drops

Beijing reported on Monday nine new cases for Sunday, sharply down from 22 a day earlier.

Beijing residents on Monday (June 22) said they felt less concerned about the coronavirus outbreak as the number of new infections dropped to single-digit.

The city of more than 20 million people reported its first case in the latest wave on June 11 linked to a wholesale food centre in the southwest of Beijing.

So far, 236 people have been infected in the worst outbreak in Beijing since COVID- 19 was identified in a seafood market in the central city of Wuhan.

To identify potential carriers, Beijing has been conducting tests on what it deems as higher-risk groups, such as restaurant workers and food and parcel couriers.

Even residents in some low-risk neighbourhoods have been tested.

As of June 20, 2.3 million people have been tested.