Government officials going the distance to update residents about virus

“Will my work in Huangpu District be affected (by the latest discovery of locally transmitted COVID-19 cases there)?"

“Only the Zhaotong Road neighborhood (to the south of Fuzhou Road in Huangpu District) has been classified as a middle-risk region. Other parts of the district haven’t changed their risk levels.”

This was a dialogue between a netizen and the editor of a government report this morning. The Shanghai Information Office published a report early this morning on its official WeChat account, updating the number and details of new COVID-19 cases in the city confirmed yesterday. According to this widely read report, six new locally transmitted and three new imported cases were confirmed yesterday.

A timely published update goes a long way toward informing the public and dispelling unnecessary concerns. The editor issued the report and answered questions.

“How about all those people found to have been contacted by the confirmed patients?” a netizen asked.

The editor replied: “By 10pm yesterday, 72 close contacts had been identified and all the results of their nucleic tests were negative. There were 86 others who had contact with these people, and their test results were also negative. Moreover, 15,073 related people were tested, and their results were negative as well.”

“Where have all those confirmed patients been?” asked another netizen. Although the information office had published a separate report early this morning on the exact whereabouts of the confirmed patients, the editor patiently answered the question, adding that all the visited places had been sanitized and all close contacts have been isolated for medical observation.

The information office published a second update today, adding a hotel in Huangpu District to the middle-risk list. According to the latest update made this afternoon, 15,918 related people have been examined and the nucleic test results of 15,907 of them are negative. The rest are still being tested.

“What about the situation in Baoshan District?” a netizen asked. The editor replied: "According to the district’s health authorities, a nucleic test today found that one person is suspected of being infected and is under observation. The neighborhood in which this person lives is also being inspected. Results will be announced in due time.”

These timely dialogues serve as bridge between residents and the government.

Quick to answer and quick to act, Shanghai health authorities have tried their best to unite people in a concerted effort to nip COVID-19 cases in the bud. When new cases were discovered yesterday through voluntary tests, the city wasted no time to move potentially infected residents to designated hotels for isolated medical observation.