Nearly all of the 53 people had worked or shopped at the market, which is said to supply 90 percent of the Chinese capital’s fruit and vegetables.
The Beijing authorities shut down a major seafood and produce market and locked down several residential complexes on Saturday after 53 people tested positive for the coronavirus in the city, renewing fears that China’s grip on the pandemic is not yet secure.
Nearly everyone who tested positive had worked or shopped at the Xinfadi market, a wholesale market on the city’s south side that sells seafood, fruit and vegetables, according to the Beijing health commission.
More than 10,000 people work at the market, which supplies 90 percent of Beijing’s fruits and vegetables, according to the state media. The virus was reportedly detected on cutting boards for imported salmon there.
The developments prompted the authorities to temporarily shut down the market, to partly or completely close five others in the capital, and to lock down 11 nearby residential communities and nine schools that had reopened after lockdowns that were put in place to curb the virus. State media outlets described the effort as a “wartime mechanism.”
Beijing is also tightening traffic controls into and out of the city, barring inter-provincial tour groups and suspending sporting events, according to official announcements and local news reports. Officials had already said on Friday that they would suspend plans for students in first, second and third grade throughout the city to return to school on Monday.
The stakes for the city and the country are high.
