Fujian has recorded 152 cases in five days. The province has phased in a stricter epidemic prevention and control measures now, as multiple cities suspended schools and sped up mass testing for COVID-19.
Tourist attraction places were closed and large-scale gathering activities, such as weddings, were also canceled as the two national holidays of the Mid-Autumn Festival and the National Day approach.
Among the cases reported on Wednesday, 33 were from Putian where the first COVID-19 patient was found in the fresh flare-up, with five from neighboring city Quanzhou and 12 from Xiamen.
As of 12 am Wednesday, a total of 99 cases and five asymptomatic cases were reported in Putian, mostly in mild conditions, said an official of Putian government at a press conference on Wednesday.
Putian, the well-known shoe-making city in China, has launched city-wide nucleic acid tests and imposed access control to all communities on Tuesday to stem COVID-19 infections.
More than 1.7 million samples for nucleic acid testing have been collected as of 12 am Wednesday, with nearly 60 percent of the results already out, said the official.
Other cities in Fujian have also beefed up virus prevention and control work.
From Wednesday, kindergartens in some regions of Fujian’s capital city Fuzhou have suspended classes. The investment zone with investors from the Taiwan island conducted nucleic acid tests for more than 10,000 teachers and students from 69 kindergartens.
In the city of Zhangzhou, some primary school students have shifted their classes from offline to online from Wednesday to September 21.
About 90 expressway toll stations in Fujian have been put under control, with 12 from Putian completely shut down.
Moreover, Fuzhou has established 24 new temporary sampling sites for nucleic acid testing.
Putian’s locally-transmitted epidemic mainly has two chains of transmission – the one relating to Putou Primary School and one relating to Xiesheng shoe-making factory, where 28 employees were found to have been infected.
An employee from the factory told the media that many of the infected people who were close contacts of the first patient identified in the factory were “not feeling well” and “showed flu like symptoms” before they were confirmed with COVID-19.
A medical worker collects a swab sample for nucleic acid testing at a testing site in a community in Siming District, Xiamen, southeast China’s Fujian Province, Sept. 14, 2021. Xiamen, a port city in Fujian Province, has started a citywide nucleic acid testing due to the latest COVID-19 resurgence in the city, authorities said Tuesday.
