Chinese officials say latest COVID-19 outbreak in Beijing originated from Europe

The latest COVID-19 outbreak in Beijing has been reported to be a European strain amid fears of a second wave of the deadly bug.

Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) official, Zhang Yong revealed this in an article published by the country’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

“According to preliminary genomic and epidemiological study results, the virus is from Europe, but is different from the virus currently spreading in Europe,” he said in the government notice on Friday.

“It’s older than the virus currently spreading in Europe, ” he added.

For two months, the Chinese capital had not reported any locally transmitted infections until last week, when a fresh cluster of coronavirus cases emerged from a wholesale food market in the city, infecting more than 180 people as of Friday.

The city of more than 20 million people was placed under a partial lockdown. Authorities reintroduced restrictive measures by sealing off several markets and closing schools in a bid to halt the spread of the disease.

 Officials have also tested about 356,000 people in just five days.