Safety first as PCR screening in nine districts underway

Imaginechina

Mass nucleic acid screening of COVID-19 will be conducted in nine districts in Shanghai from Sunday, and neighborhoods will be locked down before the results come out in some districts.

The city's COVID-19 prevention and control authority said on Sunday evening that the districts with new positive cases or subdistricts and towns where infections have been found must do mass polymerase chain reaction (PCR) screening at least twice in three days.

The mass PCR tests will be conducted twice in Huangpu, Xuhui, Changning, Jing'an, Putuo, Hongkou, Yangpu, Minhang and Baoshan districts – as well as some parts of other districts through Thursday.

Every resident, including those in street shops and hotels, is subject to mandatory testing. A 24-hour negative PCR report is required to leave the community, companies, or venues during the screening, the authority said.

Baoshan District initially announced to launch the mass PCR tests for three days in a row from Sunday, followed by the Pudong New Area, Yangpu and Hongkou.

The Baoshan government released the notices on Sunday morning about the continuous testing, which aims to "contain the transmission risk of the COVID-19."

Baoshan and Yangpu, both in the city's north, said neighborhood compounds and villages would be put under lockdown when the testing began and till the results come out.

Employees are also required to show their 24-hour PCR report at workplaces and avoid going to public places, the district governments said.

Baoshan had already launched three rounds of PCR screening between Thursday and Saturday. In a previous notice, the district asked citizens to reduce dining at restaurants or gathering at public places. Some eateries, cinemas and enclosed venues will be suspended temporarily.

Companies, office parks and office buildings in Baoshan are encouraged to stagger working hours or let employees work from home.

PCR screening will be conducted on Monday and Wednesday in Pudong. Residents must have a 48-hour PCR test result to leave their communities, the Pudong government said.

There are currently seven high-risk areas and about 50 medium-risk areas citywide.

The Baoshan police said on Friday that a 32-year-old quarantine hotel worker was held for allegedly spreading the COVID-19 virus by breaking pandemic control rules.

The woman working at a quarantine hotel in Baoshan went back home without permission though she was subject to closed-loop management and banned from leaving the hotel.

She later tested positive for COVID-19 during a regular screening and lied about her whereabouts during the epidemiological survey.

Two of her family members had been infected, while the hotel and her community have been put under lockdown.