Shanghai screens over 14m people in 2nd phase of closed-off management

SHANGHAI -- Over 14 million Shanghai residents were sampled on Friday for nucleic acid testing in Puxi, or areas west of the Huangpu River, amid the city's second phase of closed-off management, a local official told a press conference on Saturday.

Shanghai reported 260 confirmed locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 6,051 asymptomatic carriers on Friday, said Wu Qianyu, an official with the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, attributing the daily rise in positive cases to a wider range of screening.

The current epidemic situation is severe and complicated, and the task of prevention and control is extremely arduous, Wu added.

Shanghai will offer timely support to juveniles who are left unattended due to reasons such as their parents being infected with COVID-19. Community workers should take care of them immediately, said Zeng Qun, deputy head of the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau.

For those juveniles suitable to stay at home, community workers should find a temporary guardian for them with the consent of their parents. Others will be transferred to institutions for juvenile protection for special care.

At present, emergency departments of all medical institutions in Shanghai have been opened on the condition that the epidemic prevention and control work is done well.

Neighborhoods under closed-off management are collecting information about key groups including cancer patients and pregnant women to ensure that they can get medical help.

Starting on March 28, the megacity in East China began to enforce temporary closed-off management in two phases to track infections and curb the spread of the virus.

Mass nucleic acid testing in areas east of the Huangpu River started on March 28 with the first phase of closed-off management in place. The second phase of closed-off management came into force in areas west of the river on Friday.