Beijing authorities shut down food market after cluster of coronavirus cases detected

Beijing authorities announced they have shut down one of the city's largest wholesale food markets on Saturday after 45 people linked to the market tested positive for coronavirus.

Beijing authorities announced they have shut down one of the city's largest wholesale food markets on Saturday after 45 people linked to the market tested positive for coronavirus. Only four cases showed symptoms as health officials have begun testing all employees of the market, some 10,000 people, and tracing back people who have visited the Xinfadi market.

Authorities also began testing other large marketplaces and taking food samples as another asymptomatic case was detected at another market. The announcements come after Beijing began detecting new coronavirus cases over the past two days, for the first time since April.

The cluster was discovered after months of relative calm, with only handfuls of cases detected daily, mainly among arrivals from abroad. Fears of a second wave are widespread in China, especially given that the first outbreak of coronavirus was linked to a food market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December and January.