In its race to control a fresh coronavirus outbreak in the Chinese capital city of Beijing, authorities have locked down neighbourhoods and launched a massive test and trace programme. , In all 75 cases linked to a single wholesale food market in Beijing was recorded recently in the city.
The outbreak in China — where the disease first emerged last year — had largely been brought under control until a fresh batch of cases was detected in the capital last week.
Health officials reported 49 new coronavirus cases nationwide on Monday, including 36 more in Beijing where a cluster linked to the Xinfadi market has fuelled fears of a second wave of infections.
City official Li Junjie said at a press conference that cases had also been found at the Yuquandong wholesale market in the capital’s northwestern Haidian district.
As a result, that market had been closed and nearby schools would be shut, while people living in 10 housing estates around it would be forbidden from leaving their homes, he said.
It was not immediately clear how many households were under the new lockdowns, but the orders will affect thousands of people.