Asia Today: China reports 57 new cases; 34 in South Korea

BEIJING (AP) - China on Sunday reported its biggest one-day jump in cases in two months after closing the biggest wholesale food market in Beijing and locking down nearby residential communities.

The 57 new confirmed coronavirus infections include 36 in Beijing.

The Xinfadi market on Beijing's southeastern side was closed Saturday and neighboring residential compounds locked down after more than 50 people in the capital tested positive for the coronavirus. They were the first confirmed cases in 50 days in the city of 20 million people.

China, where the pandemic began in December, had relaxed most of its anti-virus controls after the ruling Communist Party declared victory over the disease in March.

Authorities locked down 11 residential communities near the Xinfadi market. Police installed white fencing to seal off a road leading to a cluster of apartment buildings.

In other developments in the Asia-Pacific region:

SEOUL, South Korea __ South Korea has confirmed 34 additional cases of the coronavirus, mostly in the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says South Korea has so far recorded 12,085 COVID-19 cases. It says 10,718 of them have recovered, 1,090 remain in treatment and the rest 277 died. The new cases have been linked to nightlife establishments, church services, a large-scale e-commerce warehouse and door-to-door sellers. In late February and early March, South Korea was reporting hundreds of new cases each day before improving the situation significantly with aggressive contact tracing. That's now proving to be more challenging as authorities ease up on social distancing rules.

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