Seven people who tested positive for the coronavirus have been linked to the same restaurant in China, sparking fears of a looming new outbreak as the country scrambles to get back to normal.
It comes as authorities in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou are investigating a possible series of community transmission of the killer bug after five Nigerian nationals were infected with the deadly disease.
Four of them had recently visited the same eatery ‘Emma Food’ multiple times, announced the Guangzhou Health Commission yesterday. The restaurant owner, along with her daughter and another child, later tested positive for the contagion.
The coronavirus epidemic erupted in China after dozens of people suffering ‘mysterious viral pneumonia’ were linked to the same seafood market in Wuhan.
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Guangzhou is situated 1,028 kilometres (638 miles) south of the former epicentre.
Yuexiu District, where the restaurant is located, has imposed strict measures in a response to the new cluster of infections, according to the press.
The new cases have raised an alarm in Guangzhou which has so far reported 466 coronavirus cases.
Guangzhou authorities detected five Nigerian citizens with infections between March 28 and March 30, after screening 3,779 travellers from high-risk countries who weren’t quarantined after arriving in China.
A total of 197 people who had close contact with the patients were isolated and tested.
The owner of Emma Food, known by her surname, Zhuang, was put under quarantine on April 1 after officials discovered four of the patients had recently been to the restaurant. Zhuang, 38, tested positive on April 2.
The owner’s daughter, aged 8, and her three-year-old playmate both were diagnosed with the deadly disease on the next day.
The Emma Food restaurant has been closed for inspection. Other restaurants in the district have been forced to shut down for 14 days, Chinese media report.
Speculation circulating online yesterday suggested that the infections prompted the district to go into lockdown. City police today have crushed the rumours and said residents are still allowed to enter or leave the community through two designated entrances.
Security guards are seen stationed on the streets to take visitors’ temperatures, according to the press.
Guangzhou is one of China’s major trading and garment industry hubs, attracting many merchants from around the world. The coastal city is also reportedly home to Asia’s largest African migrant population.
