Shanghai’s recent COVID-19 outbreak under control: mayor

The recent COVID-19 epidemic in Shanghai has been brought under control thanks to the orderly, precise and effective control measures, the city’s mayor Gong Zheng said.

Gong said at a press conference that all the 16 newly-reported locally transmitted COVID-19 cases reported between Jan. 20 and Wednesday were discovered through screening and the response to controlling the epidemic was immediate.

“After the discovery of new cases, we immediately activated the emergency response mechanism and quickly identified the cases and epidemic sites,” he said.

Instead of mass nucleic acid testing, Shanghai focused on those the COVID-19 patients had come in close contact with. So far, more than 41,000 people have been tested.

In the fight against the epidemic, some of the government’s control measures and actions have shown the city’s warmth, humanity and efficiency.

On Jan. 21, a community in Shanghai was listed as a medium-risk area. Residents were transferred to hotels for quarantine and pets were allowed to go with them.

“Thanks to Shanghai for treating pets like family members,” netizens commented on social media.

On Monday, an obstetrics and gynecology hospital affiliated to Fudan University found suspicious samples during routine nucleic acid tests. Patients and medical workers were kept in the hospital during screening for about 10 hours.

The hospital offered free dinner and free parking service to all the patients. Supplies such as bedsheets were urgently distributed so that every pregnant woman had a bed to rest.

Currently, the epidemic has been under control. Shanghai has full confidence in controlling the epidemic in the future, Gong said.