Fengtai district in Beijing has launched strict control measures to curb the spread of coronavirus, local authorities said at a press conference on June 13.

The move came after coronavirus was detected at Xinfadi wholesale market in the district.

The Chinese National Health Commission has dispatched a team of experts to supervise virus prevention and control work in Beijing.

Starting June 10, a total of seven confirmed cases have been found in the city. All of them are linked to Xinfadi wholesale market.

Eleven residential communities around the market have been closed off, said the authorities. Three primary schools and six kindergartens were also closed in the area.

The Beijing authorities also suspended group tours and sports events. The local health authorities also warned of the rise of new cases.

45 throat swabs from Xinfadi market test positive for COVID-19

On June 10, a 52-year-old man surnamed Tang in Xicheng district was found to have contracted with COVID-19 and transferred to the designated hospital, said a local official.

Following Tang's case, Beijing confirmed another six cases on June 12. All the seven new cases were linked to Xinfadi, a wholesale farm produce market in Fengtai district, according to local officials.

Forty-five throat swabs and 40 samples from the market's surrounding areas tested positive, Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the municipal center for disease prevention and control, said at a press briefing.

Beijing to conduct nucleic acid tests on close contacts with Xinfadi market

Beijing will conduct nucleic acid tests for COVID-19 on people who were in close contact with the Xinfadi wholesale market since May 30, a local official announced on June 13.

So far, 139 close contacts of the new confirmed COVID-19 cases in Fengtai district have been tracked, and all of them have been put under quarantine, officials outlined.

According to the current situation of the epidemic in Beijing, the catering services citywide have tightened epidemic control measures, local media reported on June 13.

On the night of June 12, the Beijing authorities summoned relevant officials from the capital city's Fengtai district, underscoring the importance of the implementation of the normalized measures of epidemic control and prevention.

Cai Qi, secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and Chen Jining, the mayor of Beijing, summoned the officials following a meeting regarding the municipal epidemic control and prevention measures, urging them to take serious actions to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Xinfadi wholesale market should be taken as a focal point in the epidemiological investigation of the new COVID-19 cases, Cai noted, adding that a work team will be sent to the market to make sure the situation is well under control.

Two asymptomatic cases in Haidian and Chaoyang districts

On June 13, authorities in western Beijing's Haidian district found an asymptomatic case at a market. There's no information about if the case is related to the Xinfadi wholesale market.

The market in Haidian district has been suspended.

There is another asymptomatic case related to Beijing's Chaoyang district. A 29-year-old man who lived in the region tested positive for COVID-19 during his business trip to Shenyang city, Northeast China's Liaoning province on June 12.

He is now receiving treatment in Shenyang while his family members in Beijing got tested.

Four regions upgrade risk level, 31 more facilities offering coronavirus testing

Beijing's Yuetan subdistrict has upgraded its coronavirus risk level to medium, China's State Council's app showed on June 13.

On the same day, risk levels of Xiluoyuan subdistrict and Huaxiang town in Beijing's southern Fengtai district and Changyang town in Fangshan district were also upgraded to medium.

Another 31 medical institutions are now allowed to conduct coronavirus nucleic acid testing for groups and individuals.

Now, the Chinese capital has the capacity to test more than 90,000 people per day for coronavirus, with a total of 98 health facilities providing such services.