People line up for nucleic acid testing on June 15, 2020 at Guang'an Gymnasium in Xicheng District, Beijing. Beijing is organizing nucleic acid tests for 90,000 residents to curb a new cluster of local COVID-19 infections. (ZOU HONG / CHINADAILY.COM.CN)
BEIJING/WUHAN/SHIJIAZHUANG - Beijing is organizing nucleic acid tests for 90,000 residents after 59 tested positive in China's capital, prompting reinstatement of restrictions to contain the spread of COVID-19 after a spike of cases linked to the biggest wholesale food market in Asia.
Authorities said earlier Monday nucleic acid testing on 76,499 people had returned positive results for 59. Beijing officials reported 79 cases over the past four days, the city’s biggest cluster of infections since February even as three officials were sacked for failing to contain the spread of COVID-19 in China's capital.
Restaurants have been told to suspend banquet gatherings, and reopening of entertainment venues has been suspended. Authorities said vegetables will be imported from other provinces.
Beijing has screened nearly 200,000 people who visited Xinfadi wholesale market and will organize nucleic acid tests for them.
"So far, all the confirmed cases have connections with Xinfadi market. We remind people that if you have been to the Xinfadi market recently, please stay at home and maintain social distancing from other people," said Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the Beijing center for disease control and prevention said at a press conference.
Xu Ying, a member of Beijing's leading group against the coronavirus, said at the news conference that nearly 100,000 social workers in 7,120 communities have been actively involved in the work of fighting against COVID-19.
Authorities said earlier Monday nucleic acid testing on 76,499 people had returned positive results for 59
As of 6 am Monday, 193 testing sites had been set up across Beijing to facilitate nucleic acid testings, said Gao Xiaojun, spokesperson for the municipal health commission.
In southwestern Beijing's Fengtai district, samples from 8,950 people from Xinfadi market were collected. Nucleic acid tests were conducted on a total of 6,075 of those samples, or about 68 percent, and the results came back negative, Gao said. Most of the newly-reported indigenous cases in Beijing were related to the now-closed Xinfadi market.
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As of 2 am Sunday, test samples from a total of 41,510 people had been collected in the 11 communities around the market, of whom 6,284 had been tested for COVID-19 and the results were negative.
So far, samples from a total of 29,386 people who had been to the market over the past two weeks have been collected, and 12,973 nucleic acid tests had been conducted, all of which tested negative.
Beijing reported 36 new confirmed COVID-19 cases transmitted locally and six new asymptomatic cases on Sunday, the municipal health commission said earlier in the day.
Zhou Yuqing, deputy head of southern Beijing's Fengtai district, has been removed from his post for "failing" in his duty to prevent and control COVID-19, Beijing Daily reported on Monday.
The move comes after the capital city reported 51 new cases over four days – all of them linked to Xinfadi market in Fengtai district.
Wang Hua, the Party secretary of Huaxiang town in Fengtai district, and Zhang Yuelin, general manager of the Xinfadi Agricultural Products Wholesale Market Company, were also removed from their posts.
An investigation is under way.
The deputy head of southern Beijing's Fengtai district, the Party secretary of Huaxiang town in the district and the general manager of the Xinfadi Agricultural Products Wholesale Market Company have been removed from their posts, Beijing Daily reported
By Sunday, Beijing had reported 499 confirmed cases transmitted locally, including 411 who had been discharged from hospitals after recovery and nine deaths. There were still 79 patients receiving medical treatment and seven asymptomatic cases under medical observation.
So far, 174 imported COVID-19 cases have been reported in the capital city, with one still hospitalized.
Mainland reports 49 new cases
A total of 49 new confirmed cases were reported on the Chinese mainland Sunday, of which 39 were transmitted locally and 10 were imported, the National Health Commission said in its daily report.
Out of the 10 imported cases, four were reported in Sichuan, two in Chongqing, two in Shaanxi, one in Shanghai and one in Fujian, the commission said.
Besides the 36 new cases of local transmission reported in Beijing, three other cases transmitted locally were reported in Hebei province, according to the commission.
No deaths related to the disease were reported Sunday and one patient was discharged from hospital after recovery on the mainland, according to the commission.
Officials hold a news conference on Beijing's response to the emergence of new novel coronavirus cases in Beijing, June 15, 2020. (PHOTO / CHINANEWS.COM VIA CHINADAILY.COM.CN)
As of Sunday, a total of 83,181 confirmed COVID-19 cases had been reported on the mainland, and 4,634 people had died of the disease.
READ MORE: COVID-19: Beijing tightens control as 36 new cases reported
Altogether, 78,370 patients had been discharged from hospitals after recovery by Sunday, while the commission said. There were 177 patients still being treated, the commission said.
By Monday, a total of 1,837 imported cases had been reported on the mainland, of which 1,745 had been discharged from hospitals after recovery while and 92 remained hospitalized, the commission said. No deaths had been reported from imported cases.
The commission said one new suspected case was reported Sunday, and there were currently three suspected cases.
According to the commission, 3,852 close contacts were still under medical observation after 392 people were released from medical observation Sunday.
A total of 49 new confirmed cases were reported on the Chinese mainland Sunday, of which 39 were transmitted locally and 10 were imported, the National Health Commission said
Also on Sunday, 18 new asymptomatic cases, including 11 imported from abroad, were reported on the mainland. No asymptomatic case was re-categorized as a confirmed case. A total of nine asymptomatic cases, including two imported ones, were released from medical observation, according to the commission.
The commission said 112 asymptomatic cases, including 62 from abroad, were still under medical observation.
Shanghai
The municipal health commission of Shanghai said Monday that the new imported case on reported Sunday involves a Chinese national, who departed from the United States on June 10 and arrived at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport on June 11.
The patient exhibited symptoms during isolated observation and was later tested positive for COVID-19. The patient's 19 close contacts on the flight have been put under quarantine.
As of Sunday, Shanghai had reported a total of 351 confirmed imported cases and 341 cases transmitted locally.
Hebei
In Hebei, the provincial health commission said Monday that in addition to the three local cases, one new asymptomatic case was also reported in the province Sunday.
The commission said all four cases were former close contacts with confirmed COVID-19 cases reported in Beijing on Thursday.
By Sunday, 86 people who had close contact with the confirmed cases were under medical observation. There were also four asymptomatic cases under medical observation, among which three were imported cases.
Hubei
In central China's Hubei province, the provincial health commission said Monday that no new confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases were reported on Sunday.
By Sunday, the province still had six asymptomatic cases under medical observation, after five such cases were released from quarantine on Sunday.
By Sunday, Hubei had reported a total of 68,135 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 4,512 related deaths and 63,623 recoveries.
HK, Macao, Taiwan
By Monday, 1,112 confirmed cases, including four deaths, had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 45 confirmed cases in the Macao SAR, and 445 in Taiwan, including seven deaths. Taiwan's two latest cases broke a 13-day lull, the local epidemic monitoring agency said Monday.
A total of 1,067 patients in the Hong Kong SAR, 45 in the Macao SAR, and 431 in Taiwan had been discharged from hospitals after recovery as of Sunday.
