Wuhan experts called in as Beijing reports 158 Covid-19 cases in a week

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Beijing on Thursday recorded 21 new cases of Covid-19 for June 17, 10 less than the day before, increasing the caseload to 158 in a week with nearly all the infections linked to a sprawling fresh food market in the southwestern Fengtai district.

Local authorities have conducted more than 3.5 lakh nucleic acid tests since Saturday, have suspended flights, schools and gatherings in the Capital and fenced off dozens of residential communities to contain the new surge in infections in Beijing, which have sent ripples of worry across the world about difficulties in tackling the coronavirus pandemic.

More than a thousand in and outbound flights from two airports in Beijing were cancelled on Wednesday.

The Beijing government has described the situation in the city as “grim”.

The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports issued an urgent notice on Wednesday, suspending sports events as well as closing certain gyms in the capital city.

According to the notice, all kinds of sports events will be suspended. Underground swimming pools and gyms will have to be closed.

“Basketball, volleyball, football and other group sports are forbidden,” the official news agency, Xinhua, reported quoting the notice.

The national health commission (NHC) has deployed in Beijing a team of experts with experience in fighting the outbreak in the central Chinese city of Wuhan where the coronavirus first emerged late last year.

The team will guide the local authorities in community management, tracing contacts and preventing the spread of the infection in hospitals.

Overall, 28 confirmed cases were detected in the mainland for June 17, including four imported.

North China’s Hebei province, bordering Beijing, reported two new Covid-19 cases and three asymptomatic patients on Wednesday, all of whom are related to the Beijing Xinfadi market.

The virus is said to have been detected on a salmon fish chopping board.

Beijing’s neighbouring city Tianjin reported one new covid-19 case on Wednesday night; that of a 22-year-old man working at Tianjin’s Conrad Hotel, according to Chinese state media.

“The patient has been responsible for dishwashing since May 30, occasionally cleaning frozen seafood. All 93 close contacts have been quarantined for medical observation,” the state media report said.

Following Beijing’s decision to raise its epidemic response to Level II from Level III on Tuesday, and after four provinces reported confirmed cases related to the capital city’s new outbreak, 31 provinces and regions in China have tightened health checks on arrivals from Beijing.

At least one city, Harbin in northeast China, said arrivals from Beijing’s risk areas would have to go through a 14-day centralised quarantine, a week of home quarantine and four nucleic acid and one serum test during that period.