Fresh Covid-19 outbreak in Beijing market triggers alarm in China

By Javier García

Beijing, June 13 (efe-epa).- A new Covid-19 outbreak in Beijing’s main food market after almost two months without any infections set off alarm bells in China on Saturday.

Xinfadi market, a wholesale fresh food distribution center in the Fengtai district has been shut after 46 people who had visited the site tested positive for coronavirus.

Hundreds of security officers in military transport trucks have been deployed to the building to prevent anyone from entering.

Tests were being carried out on more than 10,000 employees and vendors and there has been strict monitoring of all visitors since 30 May.

The 46 cases were all asymptomatic leading to fears that infection could have been spreading for days or possibly weeks among workers and customers.

Eleven nearby housing communities have been put into quarantine and local media have reported that produce has been left uncollected while it is inspected for traces of the virus.

Xinfadi distributes 90 percent of the fresh vegetables and fruit in Beijing and also supplies most of the city’s smaller markets.

The virus has been detected on a fish cutting board used by an imported salmon vendor, according to the market’s manager Zhang Yuxi.

The salmon had come from the Jingshen Fish and Seafood Market, also in the Fengtai district, which has been closed along with four other food distribution centers in the city.