Shanghai can impose lockdown on trails of infections, says official
An increasing number of visitors are seen on Daxue Road, a popular commercial street in Shanghai's Yangpu District, on Tuesday.
Apart from local high- and medium-risk areas, lockdown and control measures can also be imposed on places where COVID-19 infections or their close contacts have been to, the Shanghai Health Commission said on Tuesday.
Residents in these places will undergo two or seven days of home quarantine plus one to two weeks of self-health management, based on epidemiological investigation and risk evaluation.
They must also take multiple nucleic acid, or polymerase chain reaction (PCR), tests during the quarantine period.
"If necessary, some other measures will be conducted, such as regional PCR screening, risk-group screening, environmental clean-up and disinfection, transfer and quarantine of residents in other districts, restriction on gathering activities, lockdown on public areas or traffic curbs," Zhao Dandan, deputy director of the commission, pointed out.
Residents within the medium-risk areas must undergo two weeks of home quarantine and receive daily PCR tests.
Shanghai reported four community COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, declaring four more areas in downtown as medium-risk spots.
The two confirmed cases with mild symptoms and two asymptomatic cases were found in Baoshan and Jing'an districts as well as the Pudong New Area. They have been sent to designated hospitals for quarantine treatment and medical observation.
The new community infections include a 27-year-old man in Baoshan's Gaojing Town, who had been to different places in the suburban district in addition to Yangpu and Hongkou districts in the last two weeks.
He went to a local fever clinic after showing symptoms of fever and lack of strength on Monday. He had taken two shots of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Epidemiological investigations show that apart from his home, the man had been to a cafe and hair salon on Daxue Road in Yangpu; the Suning mall, a convenience store and a KFC restaurant at the Wujiaochang commercial hub; as well as a wedding dress store and an adidas outlet at another mall in Hongkou.
Residents line up for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test at a street kiosk in Jing'an District.
Shanghai declares four more areas as medium-risk spots.
The other infections are a 45-year-old woman in Jing'an's Gonghexin Road Subdistrict, a 75-year-old man in Jing'an's Caojiadu Subdistrict and a 41-year-old man in Pudong's Huamu Subdistrict.
The man in Pudong had not left his community within the last 14 days. He tested positive during an antigen self-test and community doctors conducted a PCR retest at his home.
The other two infections, who tested abnormal at regular PCR test sites, had been to a food store and hair salon in the last two weeks.
All of their 72 close contacts have received PCR screening and 68 among them have tested negative so far, while other samples are being tested.
Among the 220 environmental samples, three samples collected from the infections' homes returned positive.
No. 1588 Yixian Road of Gaojing Town, Baoshan; 163 Tanjiaqiao Road of Gonghexin Road Subdistrict, Jing'an; 327 Yuyao Road of Caojiadu Subdistrict, Jing'an; and 801 Yinghua Road of Huamu Subdistrict, Pudong, are now medium-risk areas, bringing the total to 21 such areas in the city.
Shanghai has reported 20 community infections and declared 17 areas as "medium risk" since the city lifted the two-month-long COVID-19 lockdown and allowed residents to resume normal work on June 1.
The scattered cases have been found in Jing'an, Huangpu, Xuhui, Hongkou and Baoshan districts as well as Pudong.
Zhao reiterated that those with COVID-19 symptoms must avoid taking public transport and go to hospital promptly for PCR testing.
More customers are seen at the Wujiaochang commercial hub's underground shopping street in Yangpu District.
The two confirmed cases with mild symptoms and two asymptomatic cases were found in Baoshan and Jing'an districts as well as the Pudong New Area.
