Beijing municipal authorities said Wednesday more than 130 coronavirus infections have been discovered since last Thursday in the wake of the detection of a cluster at the city's biggest wholesale market.
The authorities said that 31 new infections were found Tuesday in the Chinese capital and that 19 of them were confirmed in the southwestern district of Fengtai, where the Xinfadi market is located.
Many of the recent patients diagnosed with COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus, in Beijing have been linked to the Xinfadi market.
While at the same time announcing virus tests on about 200,000 people who have visited the market since May 30, the local government has stepped up measures to prevent further infections, such as obliging residents who will leave Beijing to be tested for the virus.
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The city also shut down schools on Wednesday.
The daily figure published by the municipal authorities represents only symptomatic patients. The number of new asymptomatic patients detected Tuesday was six.
The latest outbreak comes after Beijing lowered its emergency response to the virus from the second level posture to the third level on June 6. New infection cases had not been found in the capital for roughly two months.
On Tuesday, the city again raised its alert level a notch.
On the mainland overall, 44 new coronavirus infections were confirmed Tuesday, bringing the total to 83,265, with 4,634 deaths, China's health authorities reported.
