The Beijing district was put on a “wartime” footing and the capital banned tourism and sporting events on Saturday as the cluster of new coronavirus cases centered in the food market sparked fears of a new virus outbreak.
According to Chu Junwei, a district official, 45 people out of 517 tested with throat swabs at the Xinfadi market in the city’s southwestern Fengtai district tested positive for the coronavirus, reports Reuters. The 45 cases were in addition to seven cases earlier cases detected in people with symptoms.
While none of the people who tested positive for the virus showed any symptoms of the disease, 11 neighborhoods in the vicinity of the market were locked down with 24-hour guards put in place. The Xinfadi market is advertised as the largest agricultural market in Asia.
“In accordance with the principle of putting the safety of the masses and health first, we have adopted lockdown measures for the Xinfadi market and surrounding neighborhoods,” Chu said. The district is in a “wartime emergency mode,” he added.
Communist Party members and volunteers have been mobilized to go out and buy food for those families in the lockdown. It is not yet clear how many people live in the 11 neighborhoods.
Inspectors took 1,901 samples from meat, surfaces, dustbins, handles, and other objects at the market, and 40 tested positive, according to the Associated Press. The Beijing News, citing the head of the Xinfadi market, said the virus had been found on a chopping board for imported salmon.
Cao Yajiang, who works in finance, expressed concern for this latest outbreak but was confident the government will control it, reports CBS News.
“When I first saw it, I was really panicked, but when I calmed down and thought it over, I thought it wasn’t a big deal, because they’ll seal off the area,” he said. “There shouldn’t be a large-scale outbreak.”
