BEIJING — Beijing will soon increase its nucleic acid testing capacity for novel coronavirus to more than 50,000 samples daily, local authorities said on April 30.

The capital will encourage and guide qualified third-party institutions to perform nucleic acid detection, and those already with testing capabilities should further improve personnel training and optimize procedures, Gao Xiaojun, spokesperson for the municipal health commission, told a press briefing on April 30.

All COVID-19 patients and close contacts, fever outpatients and patients in urgent need of hospitalization have to undergo the nucleic acid tests in Beijing.

The city also requires tests on ordinary outpatients and emergency patients with typical respiratory symptoms, an epidemic history specified in China's diagnosis and treatment plan for COVID-19 or whose chest CT scans show typical manifestations of viral pneumonia.

Beijing has lowered its emergency response to the COVID-19 epidemic from the top level to the second level starting on April 30.

After the adjustment, local authorities at all levels will continue to promote the prevention and control work on a regular basis, Gao said.