Weekly PCR test mandatory for Shanghai citizens
Citizens in more than a dozen Shanghai districts are undergoing PCR screening over the weekend.
Shanghai citizens must take at least one nucleic acid test every week through the end of July, in a new measure to "consolidate the city's COVID-19 prevention fruits," the city government announced on Saturday.
Otherwise their health code will turn yellow, preventing them from taking public transport or entering any public areas, Xia Kejia, the official taking charge of the city's PCR screening, told the city's COVID-19 press briefing.
The free polymerase chain reaction (PCR) service at the city's various regular testing sites will thus be extended to July 31, said Xia.
"The infection rate among people who failed to take the previous mandatory PCR tests is evidently higher than the average," he said.
Those with a yellow health code are only allowed to enter or leave their communities, go to PCR test sites or hospitals. They are required to stay at home unless it is necessary to go out, reduce contact with others and avoid going to crowded public places. They must take legal responsibility if they cause any spread of the coronavirus.
Their health code will return green within 24 hours after they take a PCR test, Xia said.
Local districts are required to offer convenient PCR test services for patients confined to bed, seniors with difficulty in moving, the physically challenged, infants and other special groups.
Shanghai reported 32 community infections between June 1 and 10 after the city lifted its two-month-long lockdown.
The scattered infections began at the junction of downtown Huangpu's Ruijin No. 2 Road Subdistrict, Jing'an's Nanjing Road W. Subdistrict and Xuhui's Hunan Road Subdistrict.
Citizens pass a shopping mall in Wujiaochang commercial hub, a medium-risk area.
Four areas in four districts are now medium risk areas.
Trailing period
At present, the infections have been detected in 13 local districts with potential risks of further spread, said Zhao Dandan, deputy director of the Shanghai Health Commission.
"The city is under great pressure now to reduce the daily new infections, while preventing any resurgence," Zhao said.
The infections were mainly detected among gatherings of people at both local families and public sites, such as the Red Rose Beauty Parlor in Xuhui, where more than 480 customers have become close contacts after three staff tested positive.
The infections include an increasing number of service industry employees, who serve a large customer flow after the resumption of work, Zhao noted.
However, the health commission official said the recent resurgence belongs to the "trailing period" of the city's pandemic since March, because the virus strain since June 1 remains the same with the previous COVID-19 variant according to the gene sequencing.
The areas of the resurgence since June are also highly similar to the risky areas during the peak of the pandemic in April and May, said Zhao.
The city reported four community COVID-19 cases on Saturday, and designated four more areas in four districts as medium-risk spots.
The three confirmed COVID-19 cases with mild symptoms and one asymptomatic case, between the ages of 27 and 66, were reported in the districts of Minhang, Jing'an, Xuhui and the Pudong New Area.
665 Pule Road of Meilong Town in Minhang District; 413 Zhijiang Road M. of Baoshan Road Subdistrict in Jing'an; 60 Pujian Road of Tangqiao Subdistrict in Pudong and 335-339 Changle Road of Hunan Road Subdistrict in Xuhui are now medium-risk areas. They bring the total number of such areas to 32.
The city reported four community COVID-19 cases on Saturday.
