Beijing's coronavirus outbreak under control, Chinese expert says

Beijing has brought its latest coronavirus outbreak under control, a Chinese medical expert said on Thursday.

The city has recorded 158 infections since confirming the first on June 11 in its worst outbreak since early February, which has been traced to the sprawling wholesale food centre of Xinfadi in its southwest.

Despite just a few cases compared to numbers outside China, authorities have acted quickly to curb contagion risks in the capital, which had recently won praise for its tough countermeasures.

A mere few days after the first case, the city returned to a level two alert, the second-highest in a four-tier virus emergency response system, leading to new curbs on residents' movements.

Going by recent case numbers, June 13 -- with 31 cases in 24 hours -- was the peak of the current outbreak.