BEIJING: More COVID-19 outbreaks in China similar to the ongoing one in Beijing are likely because the pandemic has yet to be contained globally, but they will be brought under control quickly, a senior public health expert said.
“With the massive global pandemic going on, it is very natural that the outbreak occurred in Beijing, and it would be no surprise if a similar outbreak happened accidentally in another area in China,” said Gao Fu, director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
“However, I am confident that such local outbreaks will be effectively suppressed once they are identified, as we have experience in COVID-19 epidemic control in Wuhan and competent public health professionals, including community health workers and CDC workers.”
As of Wednesday, the outbreak in Beijing, which is linked with a major wholesale food market in the city, had resulted in 329 confirmed cases over the past three weeks.
The outbreak has been brought under control, with just one new confirmed case reported on Wednesday. Before the outbreak, Beijing had reported no new domestically transmitted cases of novel coronavirus infection for 56 days.
In a report published last week, China’s CDC said the virus strain that caused the outbreak in Beijing originated in Europe, based on genetic analysis of virus samples collected from the Xinfadi wholesale food market.
Gao said the virus that caused the outbreak was likely carried to Beijing from overseas via contaminated products shipped to the market or by an infected person, with the latter scenario much more probable.
– The Daily Mail-China Daily News exchange item
