Shanghai adds 10 new infections, 1 more medium-risk area
1200 Caoxi Road N., Xujiahui Subdistrict, in downtown Xuhui has been elevated to a medium-risk area.
Shanghai reported three locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, and seven local asymptomatic cases on Sunday afternoon.
The 10 new cases include nine staffers working at a central quarantine site in downtown Xuhui District for people from overseas and an employee of Pudong International Airport.
The three new and seven asymptomatic cases tested positive after being centrally quarantined as close contacts of a previous asymptomatic case reported on Saturday, Wu Jinglei, head of the Shanghai Health Commission, said at a press briefing.
The 10 people, aged between 19 and 51 years old, live in Xuhui, Huangpu, Jing'an and Minhang District as well as Pudong New Area. They have been sent to the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center and are in stable condition, said Wu.
1200 Caoxi Road N. of Xujiahui Subdistrict in downtown Xuhui has been elevated to a medium-risk area.
It is currently the fourth medium-risk area in Shanghai, following the No. 1 building at 3705 Bao'an Highway in Malu Town, Jiading District, the Yonghui Supermarket on Huting Road N. in Songjiang District and Putuo District's Shiquan Community Cultural Activity Center on Ningqiang Road.
Places they've recently visited in Xuhui and Pudong have been thoroughly disinfected and placed under quarantine.
A total of 401 people who had close links with the new cases have been put under quarantine and medical observation. All have tested negative.
In addition, 70,442 people have been screened, 48,772 of whom have tested negative and the rest are being tested. A total of 308 environmental samples have been collected, 24 of which have tested positive.
"The current epidemic situation is tough and complicated with many uncertainties," said Wu. He said the city would stick to the "dynamic zero COVID" policy with faster nucleic acid testing, quarantined transferring, epidemiological investigation and medical treatment.
Shanghai reports three locally transmitted COVID-19 cases.
Additional local hospitals and museums have suspended operations since Sunday.
Shanghai 6th People's Hospital has suspended its Xuhui branch at 600 Yishan Road for COVID-19 screening.
Xuhui District Central Hospital on 966 Huaihai Road M. suspended its outpatient, emergency and fever clinics from Sunday.
Jing'an District Central Hospital suspended its emergency and pediatric departments as well as infusion services from Sunday.
Shanghai World Expo Museum at 818 Mengzi Road, Huangpu District, also announced it will shut down temporarily from Sunday.
Some local residential communities have also been put under quarantine for COVID-19 screening.
Wu said the duration of such quarantine depends and might be prolonged in cases of abnormal results during the nucleic acid testing.
Wu thanked Shanghai citizens for their cooperation during the two-year-long pandemic, especially during the recent resurgence of new cases, which has brought much inconvenience.
"Life, study and work in Shanghai are relatively normal because of citizens' understanding, collaboration and scientific attitude," said Wu.
Asymptomatic case infectious
Shanghai has reported an increasing number of locally transmitted and imported asymptomatic cases recently.
Sixteen local asymptomatic COVID-19 cases were reported on Friday and 28 asymptomatic cases on Saturday.
"The asymptomatic cases are also infectious," Wu told the press conference.
The same quarantine and control measures have been conducted to the asymptomatic cases, he added.
The characteristics of Omicron makes many of the infected asymptomatic, explained Hu Bijie, director of the infectious disease department at Zhongshan Hospital and a member of Shanghai's COVID-19 treatment team.
All the local cases reported since March 1 have been confirmed as the highly-contagious Omicron variant.
An asymptomatic case tests positive to COVID-19, but shows no symptoms or change on pulmonary imaging.
The initial coronavirus mainly led to lower respiratory infection with pneumonia, fever and cough. Few patients were asymptomatic at the beginning of the pandemic, said Hu.
Seven asymptomatic cases were reported in Shanghai on Sunday afternoon.
The wide range of vaccinations has also enhanced public immunity and led to a larger rate of asymptomatic cases.
About 11.04 million people in Shanghai have received the booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine as of March 1. A total of 22.49 million people in the city have taken two jabs, accounting for over 95 percent of the city's population.
Once the density of the coronavirus increases in the human body, the vaccine will be activated and fight against the virus. The patient will test positive, but show no symptoms, Hu said.
The asymptomatic patients will undergo two weeks of medical observation. After that, they will receive two rounds of nucleic acid testing and be discharged only if both results were negative.
Hu noted that the asymptomatic patients might also be at the early stage of the infection and could show symptoms later.
Meanwhile, a record number of 65 COVID-19 patients were discharged from Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, the city's designated hospital for COVID-19 patients, on Sunday after making a full recovery.
It marks the largest daily number of discharged coronavirus patients from the center since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, Wu said.
Sixteen asymptomatic patients were also released after finishing medical observations.
All the 65 discharged patients were imported COVID-19 cases, including 15 foreigners. Their ages range between four months and 61 years old.
They were treated with a combination of anti-infection therapy, traditional Chinese medicine, nutrition, psychological counseling and other remedies.
The center has received its largest number of COVID-19 patients since March under the pressures from both the overseas pandemic and resurgence of new cases nationwide, according to the commission.
Categorized treatment plans have been made for each patient. Those with mild or normal symptoms, for instance, are treated with western and Chinese medicines to relieve their symptoms, while the elderly or those with diabetes, hypertension or tumor are given remedies to enhance immunity, inhibit inflammation and improve organ functions.
Zhang Yuyi, an associate chief physician at the center, sleeps at most four hours a day on average.
"It is a great pressure to face so many patients," said Zhang. "We usually work till 2am every day."
To ensure safety, all the medics at the center are required to change their protective gears after working in the wards every four hours, Zhang added.
