Beijing’s back-to-school plan on hold as more coronavirus cases found
- Authorities say two colleagues at a meat testing centre have been diagnosed with Covid-19, a day after the capital reported its first local case in 55 days
- Education authorities tell younger students to put off return to class as city goes on alert for second wave
Municipal authorities in the Chinese capital have closed markets and postponed plans to reopen schools after two more local coronavirus cases were reported in Beijing on Friday.
Zhang Jie, deputy chief of Beijing’s Fengtai district, said the two new patients lived in the district and worked at theChina Meat Research Centre, a meat testing facility.
Education authorities immediately stopped plans to resume class for younger primary school pupils. Children attending kindergarten and the first three grades of primary school were originally scheduled to return to class on Monday, but now must stay at home.
Older students, who are already back to school, should be prepared for “adjustment”, depending on conditions, according to the authorities.
Xicheng district resident Wang Yunying said her third-grader had been excited to finally return to school.
“He has organised his school bag and books. I can’t imagine how disappointed he will be when I tell him that the plan has changed,” Wang said.
“This is terrible news but at the same time I feel safer having him stay home, given the circumstances.”
Coronavirus: low risk of second wave in China but stay on guard, Zhong Nanshan says
One of the two new patients was a 25-year-old man who spent five days in Qingdao, in the eastern province of Shandong, in the past two weeks, Zhang said.
The man returned to Beijing and later developed a sore throat, fever, cough and runny nose before he visited a fever clinic on Tuesday.
His 37-year-old colleague – a close contact – developed symptoms on Thursday and tested positive for Covid-19.
The authorities did not detail their activities but documents leaked online indicated that the men were meat inspectors and visited the Xinfadi wholesale market in Fengtai.
City officials said on Thursday that the first patient had also visited the market.
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Beware of the potential for a second Covid-19 wave, Zhong Nanshan warns
The part of the market that sells beef, lamb and seafood, has been closed so that health workers can collect samples and disinfect the site. Beijing Daily reported that traders and customers had also been tested for Covid-19.
Authorities have also closed the Jingshen wholesale seafood market, which is about 10km from Xinfadi but also visited by the first patient.
According to the authorities, traders have been told to take stock of their inventories and ensure that the quarantine records of their supplies are in order.
Dealers must demand quarantine certificates with their purchases, as part of a new citywide inspection campaign.
