Xinfadi's wholesale distribution center supplies 90% of the fresh vegetables and fruit that Beijing consumes and distributes to most of the city's smaller markets.

 

The first inspections carried out detected the virus on a fish cutting board used by an imported salmon vendor, said market manager Zhang Yuxi.

 

 

The salmon, in turn, came from the Jingshen Fish and Seafood Market, also in the Fengtai District, which has also been closed, as have four other food distribution centers in the city.

 

That discovery led the rest of the markets and large stores such as Carrefour, Walmart, as well as the food supermarkets in the capital, to announce that they were withdrawing salmon, mostly imported from Norway, from their offer.

 

The fact that the new outbreak has appeared in a large market is especially worrying due to the considerable number of people who work in it and visit it, and also the possibility that some of the food has become infected.

 

 

The coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan at the end of last year, which gave rise to the global pandemic, apparently arose from a seafood market, from which it quickly spread throughout that city of 11 million inhabitants.

 

The closure of the Xinfadi market can seriously affect the supply of meat, vegetables and fruits in Beijing, although other markets in the capital have ensured that they can handle the supply.

 

Zhang said that the reopening of Xinfadi and the other five markets closed the latest will depend on the results of nucleic acid tests being carried out on its workers.