3 local COVID-19 cases, 5 local asymptomatic infections reported in Shanghai today

Shanghai reported three locally transmitted COVID-19 cases with mild symptoms and five local asymptomatic cases on Friday afternoon. All are close contacts of previous local cases.

The eight people, who live in suburban Jiading, Songjiang and Minhang districts, tested positive after being centrally quarantined as close contacts of the previous cases.

They have been sent to the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center and are in stable condition, Wu Jinglei, head of the Shanghai Health Commission, said at a press briefing.

The No. 1 building at 3705 Bao'an Highway in Malu Town, Jiading District, where three new cases live, has been elevated to a medium-risk area.

The building belongs to the Malu Packaging City, a complex comprising accommodations, dining, wholesaling and retail businesses.

It is currently the third medium-risk area in Shanghai, following the Yonghui Supermarket on Huting Road N. in Songjiang District and Putuo District's Shiquan Community Cultural Activity Center on Ningqiang Road.

The new confirmed cases include a 48-year-old driver, the husband of a local case reported on Thursday who works at the Yonghui store on Huting Road N. The other two cases are close contacts of the man.

The new asymptomatic cases include another close contact of the man, three of his colleagues and another Yonghui store employee.

Places they've recently visited, including two restaurants on Huting Road N. and their accommodations in Songjiang and Jiading, have been thoroughly disinfected and placed under quarantine.

A total of 590 people who had close links with the new cases have been put under quarantine and medical observation. Among them, 550 have tested negative and the rest are undergoing examination.

In addition, 136,410 people have been screened, 129,395 of whom have tested negative and the rest are being tested. A total of 1,378 environmental samples have been collected, 70 of which have tested positive.

A quick response has been launched in Jiading to screen and quarantine the Malu Packaging City market to prevent the risk of further transmission, said Wang Hao, deputy director of Jiading District.

Clear transmission chain

"The chain of transmission among the new cases is quite clear," said Wu. Six cases reported in Jiading on Friday are close contacts of the driver.

He and his three asymptomatic colleagues, all drivers, traveled to Shanghai University multiple times, so the university has been placed under quarantine and screening, Wu said.

Shanghai has reported nine locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and over 20 local asymptomatic cases since Tuesday.

More than 3,000 epidemiological investigation personnel have screened over 500,000 related people citywide during this round of the outbreak, Wu said.

There are 164 nucleic acid testing institutes in Shanghai, which can test over a million individual samples every day, according to Wu.

There is no COVID-19 patient with severe symptoms in Shanghai, said Hu Bijie, director of the infectious disease department at Zhongshan Hospital and a member of Shanghai's COVID-19 treatment team.

All patients being treated at the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center are with mild or normal symptoms, Hu said. Each patient is provided with a customized treatment plan combining Western and traditional Chinese medicines.

Concerning the current round of pandemic, local health authority reiterates the importance of self awareness and proper protective measures.

These recent COVID-19 cases in the city are indoor infection, said Shanghai Health Promotion Center, which required local residents to avoid unnecessary gatherings and wear a mask in indoor places with many people or poor ventilation.

Ti Gong