Alarm Bells ! As 67 New Cases Appear In Beijing, China Begins Mass Testing

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China has begun the mass testing of hundreds of people who had visited a Beijing wholesale market which sparked a fresh bout of coronavirus cases even as the country reported 67 new COVID-19 infections including 42 in the capital.

In a bid to stem the spread of the contagion, the authorities in Beijing have conducted the nucleic acid test on 29,386 people who had visited the Xinfadi wholesale market since May 30, Gao Xiaojun, spokesman for the Beijing Health Commission, said on Monday.

The market became a hotspot after it reported several new COVID-19 cases. Out of all the samples, 12,973 came negative and the rest are awaiting results, Gao told the media.

The National Health Commission (NHC) in its daily report on Monday said that 49 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 18 asymptomatic cases were reported on Sunday.

As of Sunday, 112 people with asymptomatic symptoms were still under quarantine.

Asymptomatic cases, also known as silent spreaders, are the patients who have tested COVID-19 positive but develop no symptoms such as fever, cough or sore throat. However, they pose a risk of spreading the disease to others.

The Beijing Municipal Health Commission on Monday said that the city reported 36 new confirmed domestically-transmitted COVID-19 cases and six new asymptomatic cases.