Beijing building makeshift hospitals

Beijing is preparing to construct makeshift hospitals to cope with the latest upsurge of the novel coronavirus, said a press conference Saturday.

So far, about 4,000 beds have been reserved for COVID-19 infections in Beijing, and more venues are being transformed into large-scale makeshift hospitals in case of need, said Li Ang, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Health Commission.

The latest classifications have brought the total number of high-risk areas in Beijing to six and medium-risk areas to 23, said a press conference on local epidemic prevention and control work, reported Xinhua.

Beijing reported 59 new locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases and eight asymptomatic cases between 3 pm Friday and 3 pm Saturday.

According to Xinhua, a total of 295 local infections in 13 districts have been logged in the city since April 22.

The city's poor handling of the country's worst COVID-19 outbreak in two years has raised public distrust in the authorities and anger at the government.Following the closure of non-essential activities and businesses in Beijing, panic buying has started.

The handling of the coronavirus situation in Beijing would be a major challenge for President Xi Jinping in the backdrop of continued insistence on a Zero Covid Policy by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) despite the large-scale disruption of normal life and economic activities across China.

( With inputs from ANI )

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