PART of Beijing is in 'wartime mode' and tourists are banned from visiting over fears of a second wave of the deadly coronavirus.

It comes after a spike in infections was linked to a major meat market in the Chinese capital this week.

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The cases have sparked concerns of a second wave of the pandemic, which has infected more than 7.66 million people worldwide and killed around 420,000.

Most scientists believe coronavirus first broke out at a wet market in Wuhan, the capital of central China's Hubei province, late last year.

Chu Junwei, an official of Beijing's southwestern Fengtai district, told members of the public the area is in "wartime emergency mode".

He said 517 people were tested at the wholesale market – and 45 had the virus, The Telegraph reports.

But none of the positive cases had symptoms of Covid-19.

And another official said all six coronavirus patients confirmed in Beijing on Friday had visited the Xinfadi market.

They are the first locally transmitted cases in the city in more than 50 days.

The capital has now suspended all sports events, while tourists from other provinces won't be allowed to visit.

Another person at a farming market in the north-west of the city has also tested positive for coronavirus – again without showing symptoms.

To tackle the spread of the virus, 11 neighbourhoods near that market had also been locked down.

Authorities closed the Xinfadi market in the early hours of this morning after reports that two more who had visited had become infected.

Beef and mutton trading at the market had been halted during the height of the crisis in China, while closures were also put in place at other wholesale markets in Beijing.

Pang Xinghuo of the Beijing Centre for Disease Control said officials "cannot rule out subsequent cases" connected to the market.

More than 10,000 people at the market will be tested for infection.

The city government also said it had dropped plans to reopen schools on Monday young pupils because of the new cases.

China reported 11 new Covid-19 cases and seven asymptomatic infections of the virus for Friday, the national health authority said today.

All six locally transmitted cases were confirmed in Beijing.

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