Beijing, Dec 24 (IANS): Authorities in Beijing have conducted nucleic acid tests for all residents in the Chinese capital city's Lianzhu Garden community after a man living there was found to be an asymptomatic carrier of the novel coronavirus.

Shunyi district authorities said the community was immediately placed under closed management and its nearly 2,000 residents underwent nucleic acid testing and were currently awaiting the results, reports Xinhua news agency.

All residents in the apartment building of the asymptomatic case have been asked to stay home and thorough disinfection is being carried out in the residential compound's public space.

The development came after the city of Ningbo in Zhejiang province reported that a resident of Beijing's Shunyi District was found to be an asymptomatic case.

Officials said they were rushing to determine the source of the infection.

The Chinese capital reported two confirmed cases on December 18, both close contacts of an imported confirmed case, and did not report locally transmitted cases between December 19-22.

Throat swab samples collected from the four family members living together with the asymptomatic case and environmental samples from their apartment have all turned out negative, authorities said.

The novel coronavirus, which emerged in Hubei province's capital city of Wuhan in December 2019, has so far infected a total of 86,899 people in China and killed 4,634 others.