At the beginning of last week, about 7,200 residential communities in Beijing entered the “wartime management mode” as the capital city took strict prevention and control measures following the latest outbreak of a Covid-19 cluster that was first detected at a local seafood market in Fengtai district. Between 21 and 36 new cases were reported in Beijing last week, but experts were divided whether the outbreak had been brought under control. Facing growing uncertainties, central and local-level officials urged the public to remain on high alert, considering the virus’ mutation, unclear origin of the infection cluster and unknown transmission routes. Local officials were urged to take resolute and decisive measures to effectively prevent the spread of the epidemic. Of the more than 200 new Covid-19 patients, 2 were in critical condition and 11 others were severely ill.

By June 22, 103,000 delivery workers of logistics companies in Beijing had received nucleic acid tests to ensure safe deliveries to residents following the mid-year e-commerce promotions from June 1 to 16. From June 11 to 20, logistics companies in Beijing collected 68 million packages, up 22.86%, and delivered 82 million packages, up 25.57% year-on-year. Major online catering platforms also announced plans to have their delivery workers tested. So far, no Covid-19 case has been reported in the postal and logistics industry in the city.

Beijing now has the capacity to conduct 1 million tests a day. Almost 2.3 million people – about 10% of the city’s population – were tested for Covid-19 between June 13 and 19. The samples were collected by close to 7,500 medical workers at 2,100 sites. China banned imports from U.S. poultry producer Tyson Foods and ordered a Beijing Pepsi factory producing potato chips to close after Covid-19 cases were detected.

Chinese experts differ on when the new outbreak in Beijing began and where exactly the virus originated. In the latest speculation, Gao Fu, Director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said the outbreak probably did not occur in early June or late May, but probably a month earlier. Different from Gao, Wu Zunyou, Chief Epidemiologist at the CDC, said that the Covid-19 cluster centered at Beijing Xinfadi Market may have begun as early as late May. Wu has said the outbreak in Xinfadi Market is similar to the epidemic in Wuhan’s Huanan seafood market. The common feature of these markets is that they are cold and wet places, which are very suitable for viruses to survive.

“We’re trying to control the outbreak, it’s better to keep people on their toes,” Zeng Guang, Chief Scientist at CDC, said. “Controlling the outbreak is not the end. The conditions that breed epidemics still exist.” His comments came a day after Wu Zunyou, the CDC’s Chief Epidemiologist, said Beijing’s recent Covid-19 outbreak had been brought under control, although more cases were expected to be detected as a result of mass testing in the city. Wu later clarified his statement, saying the outbreak was under control and that the conclusion was based on science, but warned that “prevention and control measures cannot be relaxed”.

Major seafood markets in China have launched massive nucleic acid tests for their working staff and took environmental samples. Although there is no proof that salmon was the source of the sudden spike in Beijing, the latest research shows that the virus “came from Europe,” and virologists believe the epidemic was most likely caused by contaminated food. Industrial insiders noted that the incident in Xinfadi market will have a huge – although temporary – impact on the imported seafood market across China and on the world supply chain. They noted that the latest outbreak is also a reminder to major seafood exporters to China to strengthen their health quarantine and product quality. Many supermarkets and restaurants in China have taken salmon off their shelves and sealed them for further inspection.

The China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Alliance (CAPPMA) said that Russia, the U.S., Norway and Argentina are the top four seafood exporters to China. In 2019, Russia exported 1.7 million metric tons of seafood, with 70.5% going to China. Seafood exports from Norway to China are steadily rising. In 2019, Norway’s exports reached 168,503 tons. Eason Li, China General Manager of Hofseth International, a Norway-based seafood producer, told the Global Times that Beijing Customs has stopped imports of all seafood products, while Shanghai has raised quarantine requirements for imported salmon. The company exported about 100,000 tons of salmon to China in 2019, the Global Times reports. The virus could survive for months on contaminated seafood or meat in temperatures between -10ºC and -30ºC, but there is no evidence that the virus can replicate in fish, so salmon is not a viral carrier.

Beijing has now become a “no-go zone” for other parts of China, as many places strengthened health checks on arrivals from Beijing. Many Beijing residents now prefer not to leave the city over fears of the strict quarantine measures they may face in other places. The city of Daqing in Heilongjiang province imposed a 21-day quarantine for people returning from Beijing. A government employee from Jinan, capital of Shandong province, told the Global Times that even people from low-risk Beijing districts will only be allowed to stay in hotels after they have provided valid nucleic acid test results.

Authorities said that with a sound prevention and supervision procedure in place, cross-border personnel exchanges – such as bilateral fast-track arrangements with South Korea, Singapore and Germany – need not be stopped or suspended in the wake of Beijing’s new coronavirus infections. Flights to and from Beijing were largely canceled shortly after Beijing raised the emergency response to Level II, under which Beijing residents who want to leave the city are required to show a negative nucleic acid test result in the past 7 days.

Testing the whole population of Beijing has been ruled out for now. A total of 300 asymptomatic patients were found after 9,899,828 residents were tested in Wuhan during a 10-day citywide test period from May 14, with no confirmed cases. The tests cost CNY900 million, paid by the Wuhan city government.

The new Covid-19 outbreak in Beijing is likely to deal a blow to the revival of its tourism sector, with an analyst predicting a 30% to 40% year-on-year drop in revenue during the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday this week. Group tours from other provinces to Beijing have been suspended. China saw a total of 95.98 million domestic tourist trips during the Dragon Boat Festival in 2019, up 7.7% year-on-year. National tourism revenue stood at CNY39.3 billion, up 8.6% year-on-year.

This overview is based on reporting by the Global Times, China Daily, South China Morning Post and Shanghai Daily.