Nine local COVID-19 cases in normal, mild conditions

All of the nine newly reported local COVID-19 cases are in a stable condition and receiving treatment at the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, the head of the city’s health authority said on Saturday.

The cases that have been reported since Thursday include eight “normal” cases, which mean they’ve shown symptoms such as fever, sore throat and runny nose as well as pneumonia on CT images, along with a “mild” case, Wu Jinglei, director of the Shanghai Health Commission, told a press conference on Saturday.

The health authority has found a total of 160 close contacts of the nine cases as of midnight Friday. They have been centrally quarantined and undergone nucleic acid tests. Five of them have tested positive and confirmed as infected, while two are being tested.

The authority has also tracked 299 close contacts of the close contacts and conducted central quarantine for them. All of them have tested negative for COVID-19.

A total of 28,332 people related to the cases or their close contacts have been under strict quarantine. Among them, one tested positive and confirmed as infected, along with another suspected case, Wu said.

Thirty of the environment samples related to the living and workplaces of the confirmed cases have tested positive, among the 1,939 samples collected by the authority.

Citizens are asked to enhance self-protection awareness and ability. In one of the directives, students are asked to avoid taking part in any offline education or training events during the winter holiday, according to the authority.

Meanwhile, the city transport authority has further strengthened the rules requiring all public transport passengers to wear masks. Subway commuters are also required to receive temperature checks. The stations in Kunshan area of Jiangsu Province of Metro Line 11 have asked passengers to show their health code.

The frequency of disinfection has been increased on subway stations and trains, especially the lines beside the city’s railway stations, airports and hospitals.

Every public bus passenger must wear masks, and the drivers have the right to refuse violators, said Liu Bin, deputy director with Shanghai Transport Commission.

Local taxi operators must disinfect their cars every day and keep good ventilation. The online car-hailing companies must verify the health condition of every driver to ensure the safety of passengers.

Front-line employees working at local ports and public transport hubs are being vaccinated. They include the staff at local airports, railway systems, ports, postal industry, subways, buses and taxis. The online car-hailing drivers are also being organized to take the jabs, Liu said.

So far of all the 358 local cases in Shanghai, 342 have been discharged upon recovery and nine are hospitalized. One suspected local case was reported. There have been so far seven local fatalities.