Coronavirus outbreak in Beijing is under control, says Chinese health expert
The outbreak of coronavirus in Beijing has been brought under control, the chief epidemiologist of China’s Center for Diseases Prevention and Control has said.
Wu Zunyou said today that the latest outbreak in Beijing is now under control, adding that while new cases may emerge in the coming days, these would be cases discovered during testing and not newly-transmitted ones.
The Chinese capital mandated coronavirus tests for hundreds of thousands of people after it
reported a domestically-transmitted case of Covid-19 last Thursday — the city’s first for over 50 days.
Chinese officials rushed to contain the outbreak after another six cases emerged on Friday, with 106 new coronavirus cases reported by Monday.
Beijing locked down residential areas, limited travel, and closed schools in response to the fresh outbreak.
Some 21 new cases were confirmed on 17 June, China’s health authority said, down from 31 a day earlier.
Chu Junwei, an official of Beijing’s southwestern Fengtai district, told reporters over the weekend that the new cases had put the district on a “wartime emergency mode.”
Many of the new coronavirus cases have been traced back to the Xinfadi wholesale produce market, which is located on the outskirts of the capital.
European markets swung back into positive territory following the announcement that the outbreak had been brought under control, with US futures also rising higher.