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An outbreak of coronavirus linked to a Beijing market has sparked fears of a second wave of Covid-19. 

An area of China’s capital has been put into lockdown – with 24-hour guards in place – after dozens of people tested positive for coronavirus. 

Out of the 517 people tested for Covid-19 at the Xinfadi market in Beijing – one of the biggest wholesale markets in Asia – 45 tested positive, Reuters reported. 

The BBC said the cluster of cases was the first time any Covid-19 cases had been reported in the city in more than 50 days. 

The entire Xinfadi market was shut down at 3 am on Saturday after two men working at a meat research centre who had recently visited the market were reported to have the virus.

It was not immediately clear how they had been infected.

Beijing now plans to test 10,000 people from the market to detect any further coronavirus infections. 

An area official told reporters that the southwestern district of Fengtai, which is home to the market, was in “wartime emergency mode”. 

Sports events have been suspended and tourists from other parts of China have been banned from entering the city. 

Meanwhile, the city government said it had dropped plans to reopen schools for children in grades one to three on Monday because of the new cases. 

To date, more than 7.66 million people around the world have tested positive for coronavirus, while more than 420,000 have died.