Citywide tests should be finished within three days: Beijing

Citywide tests for regions with a population of more than five million people should be completed within three days, according to latest guidelines by the Chinese government. 

The State Council issued a notice today requesting that once a compulsory Covid-19 testing order is launched, it should be completed within two days for places with fewer than five million people.

For those with a population of more than 5 million, the limit would be three days.

The notice also said that once a single sample is tested positive, the testing center should immediately report to related health departments and finished reporting through a network within two hours.

If a sample tests positive, emergency sampling teams will be sent out to confirm the test results for the people concerned. 

The directive came after Macau finished mandatory testing for all 680,000 residents in three days starting August 4 after a family of four was found to be carrying the Delta variant, breaking the city's record of over 16 months virus-free.

During the three-day testing, some citizens had to queue for nearly four hours four the test.