China Reports 21 New Virus Cases

China has reported an uptick in new coronavirus cases, a day after the nation’s CDC said it expects an outbreak in Beijing to be brought under control soon.

The National Health Commission said on Saturday that 21 cases had been confirmed nationwide in the latest 24-hour period, including 17 in the nation’s capital.

City officials have temporarily shut a huge wholesale food market where the virus spread widely, re-closed schools and locked down some neighborhoods.

A report by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said that testing has found only a few infected people without a link to the market and that the steps taken mean the risk of further spread is low, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Anyone leaving Beijing is required to have a negative result from a nucleic acid test within the previous seven days. Many Chinese are travelling during a four-day holiday weekend that ends on Sunday.

China has reported 83,483 confirmed cases and 4,634 deaths in the pandemic. People who test positive but show no symptoms are not included in its official case count. (AP)