Asia Today: Beijing reinstates virus controls as cases rise

BEIJING (AP) — China reported 49 new coronavirus cases on Monday as the capital Beijing reinstated measures to contain a resurgence.

Of the new cases, 36 were reported in Beijing, traced to a wholesale market that supplies much of the city’s meat and vegetables.

Ten of the other cases were brought from outside the country and three were found in Hebei province just outside Beijing. The National Health Commission reported 177 people in treatment for COVID-19, while 115 were in isolation and under monitoring for showing signs of the illness or having tested positive without giving off symptoms.

China has reported a total of 4,634 deaths from the virus among 83,181 confirmed cases.

The new cases reported in the past few days mark China’s highest daily total of coronavirus cases in two months, prompting Beijing to suspend the restart of some classes and reverse the relaxation of some social isolation measures.

Beijing also closed the Xinfadi food market, ordered testing of all its workers and is requiring anyone who traveled there to self-isolate for two weeks.

Eleven residential compounds neighboring the market have been put on lockdown.

Beijing health officials said gene sequencing showed the virus strain causing the new outbreak was related to that in Europe, though it wasn’t clear if it was being spread by the movement of people or transportation of food.

Restaurants in the city have been ordered to conduct tests on all their uncooked food.

In other developments in the Asia-Pacific region:

— India’s home minister has offered 500 railway carriages for use as makeshift coronavirus hospital wards as New Delhi struggles to contain a spike in cases. The capital has about 9,000 beds dedicated to COVID-19 patients in public and private hospitals, but a state...