Dozens of people in Beijing have tested positive for coronavirus over the weekend as the Chinese government races to contain the spread of the virus in the capital. Local authorities tested more than 76,000 people on Sunday, of whom 59 tested positive, city officials said today.
Beijing had not reported any new cases for almost two months until Thursday.
Since then, the city has reported 79 confirmed cases, almost all of which are linked to a wholesale food market, according to the National Health Commission, which has called the situation in Beijing “severe and uncertain.”
Market shut, mass testing: On Saturday Beijing shut down the Xinfadi wholesale food market, the biggest of its kind in the country, and launched mass testing for anyone who had visited the market since May 30 and their close contacts.
Declaring “wartime emergencies” in parts of the city, local officials have sealed off the market and at least 11 neighborhoods in the surrounding area, as well as placed a growing number of other neighborhoods where new cases were reported under lockdown.
Officials are tracking those who visited the market: On Monday, Beijing officials said nearly 30,000 people had been to the market during the 14-day period before its closure.
The city has ordered people who had visited the market recently and their close contacts to stay at home for two weeks for medical observation. Several local officials, including the deputy head of the district where the market is located, have been fired, the government announced Monday.
Traces of the virus found: A market official told state media Friday that traces of the virus were found in multiple environmental samples taken from the market, including chopping boards used to chop imported salmon, prompting supermarkets and restaurants in the city to pull the fish off of their shelves and menus.
Beijing officials have since said genetic sequencing indicated the virus found in the market is similar to strains normally found in Europe, and vowed to strength inspections of all cargos from overseas.
