The origins of a new cluster of coronavirus infections in Beijing are uncertain, World Health Organization officials said on Monday (June 15), describing the claim that it might have been caused by imports or packaging of salmon as a “hypothesis”.
Several districts of the Chinese capital put up security checkpoints, closed schools and ordered people to be tested for the coronavirus on Monday after an unexpected rise in cases linked to the biggest wholesale food market in Asia.
State-run newspapers reported that the virus was discovered on chopping boards used for imported salmon at Beijing’s Xinfadi market amid worries about a second wave of the pandemic in China.
Mike Ryan, head of the WHO’s emergencies programme, said in a briefing that he would be “reticent” to say that packaging needs to be tested as a result of the new infections.
Ryan said the U.N. agency was closely tracking the outbreak, which is worrying given its appearance in a major city like Beijing, and is in close contact with Chinese authorities as they seek to control it.
