Parts of Beijing locked down
Beijing’s market supervision authorities ordered a city-wide food safety inspection focusing on fresh and frozen meat, poultry and fish in supermarkets, warehouses and catering services
BEIJING (AFP) — Parts of Beijing were placed under lockdown on Saturday as six new domestic coronavirus cases were reported, fuelling fears of a resurgence in local transmission.
Peoplewerepreventedfromleavingtheir homesat11residentialestatesinsouthBeijing’s Fengtaidistrictaftermostofthecaseswere linkedtoanearbymeatmarket,cityofficials said in a press briefing.
Beijing’sfirstCOVID-19caseintwomonths, announcedonThursday,hadvisitedXinfadi meatmarketlastweekandhadnorecenttravel history outside the city.
China’s domestic outbreak had been broughtlargelyundercontrolthroughvast, strictlockdownsthatwereimposedafterthe diseasewasfirstdetectedinthecentralcity of Wuhan last year.
Beijing officials delayed the return of students to primary schools across the city, and suspended all sporting events and group dining. Cross-provincial tour groups were suspended on Saturday.
Thesemeasureshadlargelybeenliftedas theinfectionratedropped,andthemajorityof casesreportedinrecentmonthswerecitizens livingabroadwhoweretestedastheyreturned home during the pandemic.
Among the six new domestic cases announced Saturday were three Xinfadi marketworkers,onemarketvisitorandtwo employeesattheChinaMeatResearchCentre, sevenkilometers(fourmiles)away.Oneofthe employeeshadvisitedthemarketlastweek.
Authorities closed the market, along withanotherseafoodmarketvisitedbyone ofthepatients,fordisinfectionandsample collection on Friday.
AFPreporterssawhundredsofpoliceofficers anddozensofparamilitarypolicedeployedatthe twomarkets.Workerswereseenhaulingseveral cratesofseafoodoutofJingshenseafoodmarket, also in Fengtai district.
Fengtai district officials announced Saturday that the district has established a “wartimemechanism”and“fieldcommand centre”to deal with the fresh wave.
Ninenearbyschoolsandkindergartenshave beenclosed.OnFriday,Beijingofficialsdelayed the return of students to primary schools acrossthecity,andsuspendedallsporting events and group dining. Cross-provincial tourgroupsweresuspendedonSaturday.
Mass testing ThechairmanoftheXinfadimeatwholesale markettoldstate-runBeijingNewsthatthe viruswasdetectedonchoppingboardsused tohandleimportedsalmon,stokingfearsover the hygiene of Beijing’s food supply.
Beijing’s market supervision authorities orderedacity-widefoodsafetyinspectionfocusing on fresh and frozen meat, poultry and fish in supermarkets,warehousesandcateringservices.
Major supermarket chains including Wumart and Carrefour removed all stocks ofsalmonovernightinthecapital,butsaid supplies of other products would not be affected, Beijing Daily reported Saturday.
Some Beijing restaurants were not servinganysalmononSaturday,according to AFP reporters.
Beijingauthoritiesalsoannouncedamass COVID-19testingcampaignofanyonewhohas had“closecontact”withtheXinfadimarket since May 30, after they tested over 5,000 environmentalsamplesfromfarmers’markets and large supermarkets across the city on Friday.Ofthose,all40positivesamplescame from Xinfadi market.