China’s new approach to curbing the coronavirus pandemic in the capital Beijing could be “a guide to how China can deal with future outbreaks,” The New York Times reported last Friday.
Beijing’s leaders “are not crushing the entire city, nor its nascent economic recovery, with heavy restrictions,” wrote Keith Bradsher and Chris Buckley in an opinion, entitled “In this wave of coronavirus, China is trying something new: containment.”
Mentioning that shops, restaurants and beauty salons are still operating in some parts of Beijing, the article points out that testing and tracking contacts are “fundamental to the government’s containment strategy”.
Beijing’s daily nucleic acid testing capacity has increased from 100,000 to more than 230,000 by Saturday, local officials announced.
Since June 13, people working in the wholesale market in Xinfadi, related to most of the newly reported cases, residents of nearby condominiums and people who visited the market were organized to do nucleic acid tests.
The city also prioritized testing for employees in restaurants, grocery stores, wholesale markets, as well as express delivery and food delivery companies, according to the city.
Beijing took more stringent measures in its second phase of tackling the new coronavirus, such as installing 24-hour security checkpoints in local condos and advising people to intensify social distance, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) said.
“The risk that imported cases will start new outbreaks remains the main threat to China, a situation in which a rapid and vigorous response would be needed to contain the outbreak,” said Michael Baker, professor of public health at the University of Otago in Wellington , cited by the SCMP.
It is “highly likely” that the Chinese response will be “successful, given China’s experience with such control measures,” said Baker.
