Beijing district in 'wartime emergency mode' after virus case spike

A security guard wearing a face mask tries to block the camera outside the Jingshen seafood market which has been closed for business after new coronavirus infections were detected, in Beijing

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Beijing district official said on Saturday the district was in "wartime emergency mode" following a spike in novel coronavirus cases centered around a major wholesale market there.

Chu Junwei, an official of Beijing's Fengtai district, said at a briefing that throat swabs from 45 people, out of 517 tested at the district's Xinfadi market, had tested positive for the new coronavirus.

Beijing will suspend sports events and inter-provincial tourism, effective immediately, a city spokesman said at the same briefing.

The spokesman said all six confirmed coronavirus patients in Beijing on Friday had visited the Xinfadi market.

(Reporting by Andrew Galbraith and Winni Zhou in Shanghai, and Ryan Woo in Beijing; Editing by William Mallard)