Shenyang in Northeast China’s Liaoning Province announced it will heighten its emergency response and enter “wartime mode” on Wednesday, after the city experienced COVID-19 flare-ups recently.
The authority has asked that all personnel with risk of infection be screened to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Experts from the national and provincial levels have been sent to the city to assist in epidemic control, according to the authority.
Shenyang found two locally infected COVID-19 cases and one asymptomatic case on Tuesday, the authority announced Wednesday.
One of the confirmed cases, surnamed Liang, went to a local hospital for intravenous infusion on December 21. Another, surnamed Qin, is a close contact of a woman Yin, who arrived in Shenyang from South Korea on November 29 and was diagnosed with COVID-19 on December 23.
On Monday, six new confirmed cases were found, among whom five were found during the screening of close contacts and high-risk groups, and two are medical staff at a local clinic. Five residential communities were locked down to prevent further infections.
All kindergartens across the city were suspended on Tuesday. Offline teaching at primary schools, middle schools as well as training institutions has been suspended as well.
The city also expanded its screening scope and further increased the frequency of testing on Tuesday, requiring all-member nucleic acid tests in areas classified as medium risk. Key groups are asked to take nucleic acid tests once every 48 hours.
What’s more, the city requires that all inbound travelers from overseas follow a 14-day quarantine plus 7-day medical observation period.
Liaoning Province has seen a resurgence of COVID-19 in its capital city Shenyang as well as its coastal city Dalian. As of 3 pm on Wednesday, the province has 21 medium-risk areas – 16 in Dalian and five in Shenyang.
A medical worker conducts a nucleic acid test on a boy in Dalian, Northeast China’s Liaoning Province on Wednesday. Dalian launched a citywide testing on Tuesday in response to a resurgence of COVID-19. On Wednesday, one new confirmed case and eight asymptomatic patients were reported in the city. Photo: VCG
