(Yicai Global) June 18 -- Beijing’s new coronavirus outbreak has been contained, an official from the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention said today.

That does not mean there will be no new Covid-19 cases, CDC Chief Epidemiologist Wu Zunyou said. New cases will emerge as a result of infections over the last few days, but the curve will gradually tail off, as was observed in January and February during the height of the epidemic, he added.

China’s capital city has stepped up the quarantine and disinfection of public places such as farmers’ markets and residential areas in a bid to quickly contain the spread after the new Covid-19 cluster emerged. Beijing also raised its emergency response level to two from three on June 16.

"If Beijing had failed to detect the new cluster in time and to take action instantly, then the capital would have had an outbreak even more serious than that in Wuhan at the beginning of the year," Wu said.

Over the past week, Beijing has confirmed 158 new cases of the virus. Due to the incubation period for the virus, the 21 new cases reported yesterday were all people who got infected before the June 12 discovery at Beijing Xinfadi Market, Wu said.

An analysis of the occupations of the Xinfadi cases shows that sellers of seafood are at a higher risk of infection than other vendors, followed by beef and mutton traders. Preliminary studies suggest that low temperatures and high humidity help to keep the virus alive, he added.

Editor: Kim Taylor