Rare Footage Shows Inside Of Beijing's Seafood Market

Footage released by Chinese state media has shown the inside a huge wholesale food market in Beijing, for the first time since a new Covid-19 outbreak was declared in the city last month.

The Xinfadi market was shut on 13 June when the capital city had reported its first infection in two months.

Hazmat workers can be seen disinfecting empty market stalls and trailers with bits of meat and blood shown on the floor.

City officials also confirmed one new case today, bringing the total of local coronavirus infections to 329.

It comes after city officials have recorded only one confirmed case today, bringing the local COVID-19 infection tally to 329.

Beijing has lifted lockdown on residential compounds, hoping to control the outbreak, with just three new cases reported on Wednesday in the city.

Weibo/CCTV

The state broadcaster, CCTV released the video since the cluster of infections escalated.

Workers in protective suits can be seen spraying disinfectant on to shelves and lorries, where around 5000 vehicles owned by market sellers have been left on site. Thousands of workers were sent home to quarantine.

The market is that big that 150 workers have been disinfecting it every day since 17 June, according to an official.

Weibo/CCTV

Zhang Liubo, from China's CDC, said that 12 lorries are spraying disinfectant outdoors in the food trading hub, with half of the meat and vegetables removed from the site.

The last round of disinfecting will take place when all the food has been removed from the premises, according to Mr Zhang.

Speaking to CCTV, he said: "Our current disinfectant work is mainly to safeguard the disposal process of [produce].

"This place will be able to resume once the final disinfection is done. We hope it would happen as soon as possible."

A large proportion of Beijing's latest coronavirus cases have been linked to the food market, which supplies about 80 percent of the capital's fresh produce and meat.

Officials say that the virus strain that was found in the market came from Europe.

The Chinese capital closed off dozens of residential areas, with mass testing carried out since the outbreak kicked off in the city, with many fearing a second wave of the pandemic.

The government has put a strict Wuhan-style lockdown into place on almost half a million people in a town 90 miles from Beijing at the weekend.

Amelia Ward

Amelia is a journalist at LADbible. After studying journalism at Liverpool John Moores and Salford Uni (don't ask), she went into PR and then the world of music. After a few years working on festivals and events, she went back to her roots. In her spare time, Amelia likes music, Liverpool FC, and spending good, quality time with her cat, Paul. You can contact Amelia at [email protected].

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