Beijing Reports 36 New confirmed Covid-19 Cases and Tightens Control Measures
Xinhua
DATE:  Jun 14 2020
/ SOURCE:  XINHUA
Beijing Reports 36 New confirmed Covid-19 Cases and Tightens Control Measures Beijing Reports 36 New confirmed Covid-19 Cases and Tightens Control Measures

(Yicai Global) June 14 -- Beijing reported 36 new confirmed domestically transmitted Covid-19 cases and one new asymptomatic case yesterday, the city's health commission said today.

By yesterday, Beijing had reported 463 confirmed domestically transmitted Covid-19 cases, including 411 who had been discharged from hospital after recovery and nine deaths. There were still 43 patients receiving medical treatment in hospital and one asymptomatic case under medical observation.

So far, a total of 174 imported Covid-19 cases have been reported in the capital city.

Beijing has tightened Covid-19 control measures as newly confirmed cases by local transmission have been reported in the past few days in the capital.

Given the new cases, the city has suspended a major wholesale food and vegetable market and strengthened control measures to resolutely contain the spread of the epidemic.

The newly reported cases came after Beijing lowered its emergency response to Covid-19 from the second level posture to the third level on June 6.

Professor Cheng Feng with the Research Center for Public Health at Tsinghua University said people should keep high alert against the occurrence of sporadic cases, but there is no need to panic.

As some new Covid-19 cases were connected to Xinfadi, the largest wholesale market with fruit, vegetable and meat supplies for Beijing, the market was suspended yesterday.

To ensure the market supply, special areas have been designated for sales of vegetables and fruits, according to a statement jointly issued early yesterday by the market regulation bureau and the health commission of Fengtai district.

Covering an area of 112 hectares, the Xinfadi market has some 1,500 management personnel and more than 4,000 tenants.

All personnel who have had close contact with the market since May 30 will undergo nucleic acid testing, said Gao Xiaojun, a spokesman for the Beijing Municipal Health Commission, yesterday.

According to Gao, the city now has 98 qualified institutions for nucleic acid testing, with the daily testing capacity exceeding 90,000.

Following the reports of new Covid-19 cases, disease control and prevention staff conducted nucleic acid tests on 1,940 people in the city's wholesale farm produce markets and supermarkets on June 12. Forty-six of them tested positive for Covid-19.

Of the 517 samples collected from Xinfadi market, 45 were found positive in throat swab tests. Another positive case was from a farm produce market in Haidian district, who was a close contact of a confirmed case in Xinfadi, Pang said at the press conference yesterday. All the 46 people have shown no symptoms, and they are under strict management and observation.

Beijing suspended the class resumption plan for primary schools' lower graders scheduled for June 15. The city will also suspend sports competition events, said the Beijing sports competitions administration center.

Meanwhile, the National Center for the Performing Arts and the Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Center were closed to visitors yesterday.

Bus services between Beijing and some areas of neighboring Hebei province, which were previously planned to resume on June 15, will continue to be suspended, according to the Beijing Public Transport Corporation.

Editor: Xia Ruirui

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Keywords:   COVID-19,Beijing