Beijing Xinfadi Market. Photo: Chinanews.com

A total of 102 cases out of all 311 confirmed cases in Beijing were related to Xinfadi's beef and lamb market, thus the area was labelled by health experts as extremely high risk with  another 14-day quarantine being imposed on people who are connected to this specially designated area. 

This sparked concern from consumers over whether lamb and beef, like salmon, will become the next "inedible meat." 

All 25 new cases found on Friday and Saturday are from people under collective quarantine, said Chu Junwei, deputy head of Beijing's Fengtai district, where Xinfadi is located. Dai said that 23 cases found at the MGM International Hotel are related to the beef and lamb section at Xinfadi market.

As of Sunday, a total of 102 people confirmed infected with coronavirus are from this section, propelling health experts to label this area as extremely high risk, and decided to extend the lockdown period for quarantined persons who were connected with the beef and lamb market section, to 28 days, said Dai.

Those persons were previously required to undergo a 14-day quarantine. 

Beijing's Fengtai district also vowed to conduct both nucleic acid tests and serum antibody tests on people in collective quarantine.

This decision soon sparked concern among local residents on whether beef and lamb are still edible. "Is the virus from salmon, beef or lamb? More details are needed," a Sina Weibo user urged. 

"Like salmon, the beef and lamb section at Xinfadi market has welcomed a large number of people on a daily basis, the possibility of the virus being connected to such meats exists. But they are safe as long as consumers don't eat them raw," Yang Zhanqiu, a deputy director of the pathogen biology department at Wuhan University, told the Global Times.

Since the outbreak began at Xinfadi market, virologists from China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention have visited the now closed market three times - on June 14, 15 and 17 - and announced a groundbreaking discovery.

Zhang Yong, an assistant director at the National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention of the CDC, said in a CCDI article that "a large amount of samples found in the Xinfadi wholesale market indicate that the virus has been around for some time. If it had just arrived in the city, there may not have been so many positive samples found." 

"Many positive samples show the place is severely contaminated by the virus," said Wu Guizhen, Party secretary of the National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention at the CDC.