Community test in Beijing after an asymptomatic covid 19 case

Beijing : Authorities have swung into action after finding an asymptomatic carrier of the novel coronavirus in a neighbourhood here.

Nucleic acid tests have been done on nearly 2,000 residents in the Chinese capital city's Lianzhu Garden community, where the man lives.

Following the asymptomatic case, district authorities quickly placed the community under closed management.

Now its residents are awaiting the result, while those in the infected man's apartment are asked to stay home, reports Xinhua news agency.

Thorough disinfection is being carried out in the residential compound's public space, reports say.

The development came after the city of Ningbo in Zhejiang province reported that a resident of Beijing's Shunyi District was found to be an asymptomatic case.

Officials said they were rushing to determine the source of the infection.

The Chinese capital reported two confirmed cases on December 18, both close contacts of an imported confirmed case, and did not report locally transmitted cases between December 19 and 22.

Throat swab samples collected from the four family members living together with the asymptomatic case and environmental samples from their apartment have all turned out negative, authorities said.

The novel coronavirus, which emerged in Hubei province's capital city of Wuhan in December 2019, has so far infected a total of 86,899 people in China and killed 4,634 others.

IANS report with edits