New local case infected by Delta variant from overseas sources
Shanghai's new COVID-19 case was confirmed to have been infected by the hyper-contagious Delta variant from overseas sources, local health authorities revealed on Wednesday.
The patient was infected because he was exposed to an environment bearing the overseas virus, the city's disease control and prevention center said. He had indulged in high-risk behavior by untying his protective clothing and allowing himself to be exposed to a contaminated environment during July 22-23.
The patient, a 53-year-old driver at Pudong International Airport's cargo terminal, had not left Shanghai in the 14 days prior to his positive confirmation. The origin of the virus has no connection with the recent COVID-19 outbreak in other Chinese cities, according to Wu Jinglei, director of the Shanghai Health Commission.
The patient's job involves transporting crew members of foreign airlines' cargo flights through a "close-loop" region at Pudong airport's cargo transport section.
The nucleic acid test results of 68,517 people being screened in Shanghai had come back negative by 2pm this afternoon, authorities said.
The patient had no contact history with people from high- and medium-risk regions from other cities, no travel history to those areas, as well as no contact with cold chain before he got sick, Wu noted.
A total of 67 people who had close contacts with the patient have been tested twice, with no positive cases reported so far.
There are156 facilities offering nucleic acid testing service in the city, Wu revealed, adding that testing demand has "seen an increase recently."
"Current vaccines are still effective against the Delta variant." Zhang Wenhong, leader of the Shanghai's COVID-19 treatment team, emphasized.
"At present, the most effective prevention measure is still to vaccinate oneself as soon as possible," he insisted.
"The Delta variant is currently the major variant across the world, and epidemics in most of the countries are caused by it."
He strongly suggested local residents maintain the good habits of wearing masks, washing hands frequently, keeping social distance and immediately visiting a fever clinic if they have fever or develop suspected symptoms.
So far, more than 18.8 million people in the city have completed COVID-19 vaccination, Wu Huanyu, deputy director of city's disease control and prevention center, said.
People queue up for vaccination in Shanghai.
