Tests planned for Xicheng residents near produce market

A Beijing municipal government official said Tuesday the city plans to roll out sweeping nucleic acid tests for residents living near a produce market in the capital's Xicheng district, after a market employee was confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 on Sunday.

Li Yi, deputy head of the district government, said at a news conference in Beijing that testing sites would be set up in the neighborhood to cover all residents, to facilitate epidemic control measures including home isolation or quarantine at designated sites.

The move came after local authorities on Sunday shuttered and disinfected the Guangwai Tiantao Honglian Produce Market, where an infected employee was found to have travelled to the Xinfadi produce market, a recent hotspot in southern Beijing.

Li said 62 market employees and nearby residents have been put in isolation and tested negative for the novel coronavirus. Seven residential communities near the market have been put on lockdown since 2 am, with volunteers designated to meet their needs for daily supplies.

People who have traveled near the Xinfadi market since May 30 were required to contact neighborhood authorities for testing and isolation, he added.