Covid-19: zero new cases in Beijing, a first since June

Beijing announced this Tuesday, July 7, zero new Covid-19 patients in the past 24 hours in the Chinese capital, a first since an epidemic rebound last month which heightened fears of a second wave. A total of 335 people have contracted the disease since the discovery of an outbreak in early June in a wholesale market in the south of the city.

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The municipal health commission said Tuesday that it had only identified a new asymptomatic carrier of the coronavirus. Authorities are still trying to determine the causes of the epidemic rebound. A market official accused, that of Xinfadi, had indicated that the virus had been detected on boards used to cut the imported salmon.

The announcement had launched a campaign to control the capital's food supply chain and for a time had suspicion on fish and seafood products. Since June 11, the town hall has screened more than 11 million people, about half the population of Beijing, city officials said on Monday at a press conference.

Hundreds of thousands of people on average flocked to stadiums and parks every day for testing. To prevent the spread of the virus, the authorities had confined dozens of residential areas. These restrictions have been gradually lifted over the past few days. And Pekingese who live in “ low risk ” areas can now freely cross municipal borders.

The epidemic situation in the city " is stabilizing and improving, " Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the Municipal Center for Disease Control, told reporters on Monday. China, where the new coronavirus appeared at the end of 2019, has largely contained the epidemic and has not recorded any deaths for a month and a half.