COVID-19 Alert Raised in Several Chinese Cities
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• Several Chinese cities, including Shanghai, Tianjin and Manzhouli, have reported sporadic local transmissions in recent days, raising concerns of a possible resurgence of the novel coronavirus.
• Shanghai Pudong Airport started testing all staff on Sunday night after the airport found several cargo handlers and close contacts tested positive for the coronavirus over the past several days.
Shanghai: 4 medium-risk areas
Shanghai reported two new domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases on Sunday (November 22), bringing the total of local infections this month to six. The five reported infections from Friday to Sunday (November 20-22) included three workers at a cargo station at Shanghai Pudong International Airport and the wives of two of them. The case reported on November 9 was a cargo porter at the same airport.
The residential community at No 126 Alley Shunhe Road in Pudong Zhangjiang town (张江镇顺和路126弄小区) of Pudong district was labeled as a medium-risk region for the cases found. Meanwhile, emergency response level was downgraded to low from medium risk for Yingqian village in Pudong New Area, where the first local COVID-19 case was reported. Four areas in Shanghai, all in Pudong, have been categorized as medium-risk regions as of November 23.
Chaos at Pudong Airport
At Shanghai Pudong Airport, the immediate quarantine of thousands of people was enforced, as medics in bio-hazard suits push angry crowds down into a car park area for mass testing.
Meanwhile, flights into Shanghai were largely cancelled on Sunday night. As of 11pm, 277 flights had been cancelled, according to figures compiled by airline data tracker VariFlight app.
Hundreds of people have been forced into immediate quarantine at Pudong airport in Shanghai.
It is reported that after two COVID-19 positive cases were found in Shanghai Pudong airport about 14 thousand people are forced to be in quarantine now. Authorities have begun compulsory nucleic acid tests for every arriving passenger at Shanghai Pudong Airport today, with video images being released of masses of people being pushed into testing areas.
All staff and related personnel at Pudong International Airport receive nucleic acid testing overnight
All those working at the cargo terminals and cargo sections of the Pudong airport took part in the overnight testing. Testing professionals set up temporary testing zones on the second floor of the P4 parking garage at the airport to collect samples. Because some airport workers have tested positive, masses of people are not being allowed to leave the building and an area of confinement has been allocated.
The two local cases are both close contacts of previous confirmed patients, with 52 close contacts now under medical observation as well.
The airport will further strengthen prevention and control in the upcoming winter months, carry out regular testing for high-risk operators in the cargo area, and arrange for them to receive COVID-19 vaccines voluntarily, the authorities said on Monday.
Tianjin: 1 high-, 2 medium-risk areas
In Binhai New Area of North China's Tianjin municipality, massive nucleic acid testing began on Saturday, and 2.24 million people have been tested by 7 p.m. Sunday. This followed a report of multiple local infections this month. Two men, both cargo workers at a frozen food company, were confirmed with COVID-19 on November 8 and on November 17, respectively. Four residents of the Kanhaixuan residential community (瞰海轩小区) in Binhai followed on November 20.
The community was classified as a high-risk area for COVID-19 from November 20. Another two regions in Binhai New Area were ranked at medium-risk level, including the blocks A and B of a cold-chain logistics area in the central fishing port (中心渔港).
Manzhouli (Inner-Mongolia): Level III alert
The Manzhouli (满洲里), Hulun Buir city in Inner Mongolia reported two new local COVID-19 cases on Saturday, the compounds they live in have been sealed off. The city has suspended all inbound and outbound trains, as well as all flights departing from the city's airport with a connection at Hohhot Baita International Airport in Inner Mongolia's capital city. All public areas citywide, including schools, were asked to close, with all residents receiving nucleic acid tests for COVID-19 on Sunday. The city has recorded two medium-risk areas so far.
The Hulun Buir city on November 21 activated a Level-Ⅲ alert to novel coronavirus, which will be in place through the end of this year.
Anhui: 1 medium-risk area
Zhangyang residential community in Yingshang county, Fuyang (阜阳市颍上县), Anhui province, has been classified as a medium-risk region for COVID-19 since November 11.
On November 10, the city reported a confirmed COVID-19 case, involving a cargo handler at Shanghai Pudong International Airport, who was a close contact of a confirmed case reported in Shanghai on November 9.
Cross-border cold chains/ logistics key concerns in anti-COVID efforts
Cross-border logistics and cold chains will be a focal point in preventing a rebound of the COVID-19 epidemic in China this winter, experts said after some of the recent sporadic cases were reportedly related to cold-chain logistics.
Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said prevention and control of the contagion becomes significantly more difficult in winter as the pandemic escalates overseas, increasing the risk of food contamination. Further, non-cold-chain imported cargo becomes a virus transmission vector as the entire environment of international freight in winter is like the cold chain in summer.
The virus can survive longer on the surface of containers and product packaging, which increases the risk of people becoming infected, Wu said. Non-cold-chain imported goods must also be subject to cold-chain management standards and product sampling and testing, with regular worker being screened for the virus, he stressed.
Sources: Xinhua, China Daily, CGTN, Global Times, Chinanews.com.
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