Beijing district on ‘wartime’ alert after fresh coronavirus outbreak
- City’s biggest fruit and vegetable market shut down and nearby residential compounds put in lockdown amid seven new symptomatic cases in three days
- Dozens of others linked to the market tested positive but showed no signs of the disease, authorities say
One health expert said the spike in infections linked to the market mirrored the early stages of the outbreak in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, and Beijing should be on high alert to prevent the coronavirus from spreading to other cities.
On Friday, the northeastern province of Liaoning also announced that it had two new cases, both of whom were close contacts of the two Beijing reported that day. Residents in the Liaoning city of Dalian have been advised to avoid going to Beijing.
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Beijing district in ‘wartime emergency mode’ after spike in local Covid-19 cases
Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of Beijing’s centre for disease control and prevention, said all of the cases were linked to the Xinfadi Agricultural Products Wholesale Market in Fengtai district, in southern Beijing.