China begins unprecedented COVID-19 testing of nearly all 21 million Beijing residents

Beijing has begun widespread testing of its citizens as part of an extraordinary plan to track down and stop omicron's spread before it becomes uncontrollable in the Chinese capital.

Nearly 20 million individuals will be tested for COVID-19 over the weekend as Beijing's city administration expands an effort that began in the eastern Chaoyang district, which has seen the majority of cases in the recent flare-up.

The larger test will include ten additional administrative districts as well as an economic development zone.

Following the discovery of hundreds of cases in the city in recent days, Beijing officials have ordered everyone in 12 key districts, which account for the majority of the city's population, to undergo three rounds of PCR testing.

People waited in long queues to be swabbed by health workers in protective gear in the capital's most populous downtown area, Chaoyang, which was the first to order mass testing on Monday.

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On Tuesday, eleven more districts began testing.

The testing order for Chaoyang spurred frantic buying beginning Sunday night, with residents queued up at stores with full carts and bulging shopping bags, despite state media assurances that supplies would be sufficient.

Inhabitants in Beijing said they feared a repetition of Shanghai's recent lockdown, in which residents struggled to find food and medical attention for non-Covid illnesses.

Virus proliferation in Beijing is still "within the limits of control," according to city health director Xu Hejian.