Beijing had no reports of new locally transmitted cases from the mass testing of communities on Wednesday and Thursday as of 3 pm, and the number of cases from quarantine locations has been declining, which shows the epidemic control measures have taken effect, a senior official said at a news conference on Thursday.

Beijing reported 18 infections on Wednesday and 13 infections as of 3 pm on Thursday, said Liu Xiaofeng, deputy director of the Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

All those cases were from quarantine locations, he said. By 3 pm Thursday, the total number of infections of the cluster involving the Heaven Supermarket bar since June 9 had reached 351.

Beijing's annual entrance exam for high school, better known as the Zhongkao, will kick off next Friday and last three days, with more than 100,000 candidates signed up for the test in the city.

The capital has set up 219 regular test centers for the exam and enough back-up centers in case epidemic clusters rise near the regular ones, according to the city's education authority on Thursday.

All candidates and staff need to have negative nucleic acid test results taken within 48 hours to enter the test venues.

Li Yi, spokesman for the city's education commission, said all preparation work has been done to ensure smooth administration of the exam.