Beijing Covid-19 outbreak puts food markets back in infection focus

The coronavirus that causes the disease can survive for weeks in the wet and cool conditions at such sites

But there are differences between the cluster in the capital and the one in Wuhan more than six months ago

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The Xinfadi market covers 112 hectares in Beijing’s Fengtai district. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:00pm, 16 Jun 2020Updated: 3:19pm, 16 Jun 2020

The unexpected coronavirus outbreak linked to Beijing’s Xinfadi food market raises renewed questions about hygiene and safety in such places, with disease experts saying they are ideal environments for virus transmission.

China’s capital, which has a population of 21 million, was in “wartime” contingency mode to contain the outbreak, with mass testing and contact tracing under way.

Health authorities said 27 cases were reported on Monday, bringing the total number of infections in the city since Thursday to 106, with five of those in provinces outside Beijing. The city had previously gone 55 days without a locally transmitted case.

Comparisons are being drawn with the original outbreak in the city of Wuhan in central China six months ago, in which a cluster of patients was linked to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in that city.

Malik Peiris, a virology professor at the University of Hong Kong, said the coronavirus that caused the pneumonia-like symptoms of Covid-19 could survive for weeks in the wet and low-temperature conditions found in the markets.

Water sprayed for cleaning can form aerosols of bacteria and pathogens from surfaces, which combined with heavy foot traffic of shoppers and workers, can help the virus spread.

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