848 COVID-19 patients discharged from hospitals, released from quarantine in Beijing

BEIJING, May 23 (Xinhua) -- A total of 848 COVID-19 patients had been discharged from hospitals or released from quarantine as of Monday noon, Wang Xiao'e, an official with the Beijing municipal health commission, told a press briefing on Monday.

All the 1,534 infection cases reported in Beijing since April 22 have been sent to Beijing Ditan Hospital and a makeshift hospital in Xiaotangshan Township for treatment, Wang said, adding that the 686 patients in hospitals are asymptomatic cases or develop mild and moderate symptoms.

A total of 16.9 million samples were collected during a citywide nucleic acid testing in Beijing on Sunday, in which one tube of mixed sampling for COVID-19 that was collected in Tongzhou District was found positive, Wang said.

The national capital reported 63 new locally transmitted COVID-19 infections between 3 p.m. Sunday and 3 p.m. Monday, said Liu Xiaofeng, deputy head of the Beijing municipal disease prevention and control center.

Currently, Beijing has 10 high-risk areas and 25 medium-risk areas for COVID-19.