Shanghai edges back toward 'normal' life

Special: Battle Against Novel Coronavirus

As cases continue to fall citywide, zero community transmission remains goal

Shanghai has moved to ensure a gradual return of normal life in areas where zero COVID-19 community transmission is achieved, while sticking to strict epidemic control measures in the rest of the city to ensure progress in the fight against the epidemic.

The city government announced on Wednesday that residents living in areas that have zero COVID-19 community transmission are permitted limited mobility.

The city reported 1,606 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 11,956 asymptomatic infections on Tuesday, a big fall in numbers compared with the previous day. Moreover, only 171 of these individuals were from outside controlled or closed-loop management zones, according to statistics from the Shanghai Health Commission.

Zhao Dandan, deputy director of the commission, said that though efforts to break the transmission chains have started to show good results, the overall epidemic situation is still "very grim".

Stringent epidemic control measures including closed-loop management, nucleic acid and antigen testing, thorough epidemiological investigation and disinfection will continue in areas that have yet to achieve zero community transmission, Zhao added.

Another round of nucleic acid and antigen testing will take place from Wednesday to Saturday based on each compound's current risk level. The list of locked down, controlled and precautionary areas will then be adjusted based on the test results, Zhao added.

In the past five days Shanghai health workers, aided with additional personnel and resources from other provinces, have carried out 51 million nucleic acid tests for residents across the city.

"The percentage of positive test results have been dropping steadily," Zhao said. "We will continue to optimize the workflow of obtaining samples, transportation, analysis, reporting and confirmation of the nucleic acid tests and we thank the cooperation of residents."

In response to some residents' concerns about the quality of medical supplies, such as masks and cotton swabs, Guo Shuting, deputy director of the city's drug administration, said it has increased the frequency of random checks to ensure the safety of medical devices and materials used in epidemic control.

The bureau has conducted 1,841 inspections of companies involved in the manufacturing and distribution of medical supplies, Guo said, adding that it has banned the distribution of shoddy masks and swabs, opened five investigations into the quality of personal protective equipment, and filed four cases with the police.

Guo said the bureau has given guidance for medical equipment companies to accelerate the registration process of related products. Since March, three antigen test agents, one quick nucleic acid test agent and one automatic nucleic acid testing device have obtained approvals and been put into use.

As the citywide lockdown nears a month in length, the Shanghai bureau of civil affairs has kept improving its support for people with vulnerabilities, said Shen Min, the bureau's deputy director.

"People with vulnerabilities, including the elderly living alone, seniors with disease and the disabled, face greater challenges brought by control measures," said Shen. "We have formed a series of working mechanisms to alleviate the difficulties."

According to Shen, coordination is made at the district level to provide special supplies, such as food, adult diapers and catheters, to those in need with the support of State-owned enterprises like Bailian Group and Shanghai Pharma.

The government at township and subdistrict levels acts as a nexus in allocating resources and responding to emergencies, such as dispatching extra taxis to transport people to hospitals, Shen said.

"We have also been assembling volunteer teams in communities to collect the special needs of those vulnerable groups and deliver supplies to their doorsteps," said Shen.