Beijing eyes no new confirmed cases this week: analysts

Beijing on Sunday recorded one new COVID-19 infection, marking the capital’s eighth consecutive day of single-digit cases, and experts said reporting no new cases is possible this week.

The new patient was reported in Fengtai district, where the latest outbreak was first detected and most of the city’s high and medium-risk areas are located.

The coronavirus epidemic in Beijing is stable, as daily confirmed cases had remained in the low single digits for eight consecutive days, Beijing officials said at a press conference on Monday.

Wang Peiyu, the deputy head of Peking University’s School of Public Health, predicted no new daily cases this week. Wang told the Global Times on Monday the newly confirmed cases were found among quarantined patients. That means the epidemic is controllable.

About 11 million residents in Beijing have received nucleic acid tests as of Monday. Fifty-four residential communities have lifted the closedloop management and only one sub-district remains high risk.

As the situation in Beijing improves, studies show that the viral strain in the Beijing outbreak, which is similar to that in Europe, has mutated to be more contagious, sparking concerns over the difficulty in curbing the virus in the capital city.

Zhang Wenhong, an outspoken Shanghaibased infectious disease expert, assured the public that when Beijing brought imported cases under control with its swift anti-epidemic measures, the virus won’t spread in the country. But he warned that long-term surveillance of the virus is necessary, as uncertainties remain.