China reports eight new cases of coronavirus in Beijing

Chinese officials on Friday reported eight new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the city even as authorities confirmed 334 infections during the city’s outbreak, which was detected about three weeks ago and is the largest in the country since March.

The capital city had two new cases, the seventh straight day of single-digit increase. No deaths have been reported. Beijing government spokesperson Xu Hejian said at a news conference Saturday that the situation “keeps improving and is completely controllable.”

The six cases outside Beijing were people arriving from abroad. Three were in Gansu province in the country’s northwest. China has reported 83,553 confirmed cases and 4,634 deaths since the pandemic began. Its case count does not include people who test positive for the coronavirus but show no symptoms.