SOURCE / COMPANIES
Virus detected on environmental samples from a Daimler unit in Beijing: authority
Published: Jan 03, 2021 08:23 PM

A community worker (L) guides a resident through body temperature check procedure at the entrance of the Hongcheng Huayuan residential compound on Wangquan Street, Shunyi District, Beijing, capital of China, on Dec. 29, 2020. Beijing reported seven new locally-transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases on Monday, according to the Beijing municipal health commission. The seven patients, who live in the Shunyi District, are all close contacts of earlier reported cases. (Xinhua/Ren Chao)


Coronavirus has been found on environmental samples collected from the Beijing accessories department of the Daimler Northeast Asia Parts Trading and Services Co, where positive coronavirus cases have been found previously, Zhi Xianwei, a senior official in the capital's Shunyi district, said at a press conference on Sunday.

On December 26, a confirmed coronavirus case was detected in the auto parts trading subsidiary of Daimler, which is located in the Jinma industrial area in Shunyi. The district immediately implemented a comprehensive seal-and-control move, and all people, vehicles, and goods were prohibited from entering and exiting. All food companies in the park halted production.

After testing 8,615 people in the industrial park, 11 people from the auto parts firm, and one from BIT HuaChuang Electric Vehicle Technology Co in the park, tested positive for coronavirus. All the others showed negative results, Zhi said.

Environmental and product sample tests showed that the No.1 and No.4 warehouses of Daimler's auto parts firm had positive results, and some environmental samples from BIT HuaChuang Electric Vehicle Technology Co also showed positive results, said the official.

Zhi said the No.1 and No.4 warehouses of Daimler's auto parts firm and BIT HuaChuang Electric Vehicle Technology Co are relatively independent, and they are not connected to other enterprises in the industrial park. Judging from the circulation and environmental inspections, no virus has spread among enterprises.

The park remains closed, entry and exit are prohibited, and multiple-frequency, full-coverage disinfection is carried out now. Sanitary dead corners such as garbage sites and exhaust channels are being disinfected, said Zhi.

According to media reports, several cities across the country have stepped up investigation on auto parts shipped from firms involved in the latest outbreak in Beijing.

Cities including Hohhot, North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Cangzhou, North China's Hebei Province, Yantai and Linyi in East China's Shandong Province, and Jincheng City, North China's Shanxi Province, among others, announced that they had found coronavirus on the packaging of auto products, and have quarantined related workers there.

In a statement posted on Wednesday, the Daimler Northeast Asia Parts Trading and Services Co said that Daimler is screening its dealership network. As a precaution, the German company said it decided to shutter some of its dealerships in Beijing and disinfect its operation sites.