Beijing returns to partial lockdown after 47 new COVID-19 cases

Another outbreak of the coronavirus has been reported at a wholesale market in Beijing; creating fear of another wave of the pandemic.

The current COVID-19 pandemic started as an outbreak in at a seafood market in Wuhan, China.

BBC reports that the district where the new outbreak was reported has been put under strict lockdown, extending to 11 neighbourhoods.

A total of 47 people out of the 517 persons tested at the market were reported to have tested positive for the virus — the city’s first set of cases in more than 50 days.

BBC quotes local authorities as saying the 10,000 market staff and everyone who has recently visited the market would be tested.

They are said to be unsure of how far the virus has spread from the Xinfadi wholesale market, which is said to supply 80 percent of Beijing’s vegetables and meat.

Xinfadi market, which is located in Beijing’s south-western Fengtai district, was shut down on Saturday after two men who had recently visited the market tested positive for the virus.

“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 neighbourhoods,” Chu Junwei, a district official, was quoted to have told a briefing.

According to John Hopkins University, more than 4,600 people died of the virus.

China began to lift movement restrictions in April after it appeared that the outbreak had been controlled and an emergency hospital built to treat patients was closed.