A patient is pushed past a line of residents waiting to be tested at a clinic in Beijing yesterday.
The UN health agency said it understood no new deaths have been reported thus far in the Chinese capital but added that given Beijing’s size and connectivity, the outbreak was a cause for concern. Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s Covid-19 technical lead, told the news conference in Geneva: “My understanding is that there are no deaths associated so far” with the Beijing outbreak.WHO emergencies director Mike Ryan said that countries which have implemented an immediate and comprehensive spread of measures have generally been able to contain new clusters.
He said the WHO had offered assistance and support to the Chinese authorities leading the probe, and may reinforce its own team in Beijing in the coming days as the investigation grows.