Beijing closes produce market over new virus cases

Beijing to launch testing of wholesale market contacts (Updated by 12.10 pm Saturday)

Beijing will begin testing for COVID-19 all people who came in contact with the Xinfadi market, and details of the plan will be released later today, officials said on Saturday.

Beijing currently has 98 testing institutions in total, with a maximum screening capability of over 90,000 people per day, according to Gao Xiaojun, the spokesman of the Beijing Municipal Health Commission. "This will be enough to meet the needs," he said.

The coronavirus was detected on a chopping board used by a seller of imported salmon at Xinfadi market. The seller's salmon was from the Fengtai district's Jingshen seafood market.

The Xinfadi market, which provides 90 percent of Beijing's vegetables and fruits, will be the top priority in tracing the source of the epidemic, and a working group will be dispatched to strengthen epidemic prevention and control.  Read More