Decline in case numbers signals process working

Epidemic situation in many districts shows falling trend in infections

The COVID-19 outbreak in Shanghai has shown signs of declining in recent days with the number of subdistricts and towns reporting more than 100 new daily infections decreasing for three consecutive days, the city government said on Wednesday.

"It reveals the spread of the virus at the community level has been effectively contained," Wu Qianyu, an official from the Shanghai Health Commission, said at a news briefing.

Notably, Jinshan and Chongming districts on the outskirts of the city had no COVID-19 community transmission for the first time on Tuesday, she said.

The commission said that over the past three days, the epidemic situation in the districts of Pudong, Minhang, Songjiang, Qingpu and Putuo showed a declining trend, while the districts of Xuhui, Yangpu, Hongkou, Changning, Baoshan and Jiading remained mostly stable with slight fluctuations.

On Tuesday, the city of 25 million permanent residents updated a list of more than 58,000 communities based on the latest citywide nucleic acid test results.

On April 11, Shanghai implemented a three-zone epidemic control system that categorized its communities according to COVID risk levels: lockdown, controlled and precautionary.

The number of residents in the newly designated lockdown communities totaled 11.8 million, a drop of more than 4 million compared with last week. The number of residents in the newly designated precautionary zones was around 7.86 million, an increase of more than 2 million from last week.

Shanghai registered 2,494 local COVID-19 confirmed cases and 16,407 asymptomatic infections on Tuesday. Seven deaths were logged, and all of them had existing health conditions.

Among the confirmed cases, 1,800 were individuals related to previous cases and were already under hotel quarantine, and 533 developed from previous asymptomatic infections.

The number of mild COVID-19 cases and asymptomatic infections discharged on Tuesday from makeshift hospitals after recovery was a record high 27,093. It was the second day that the number of recovered individuals being discharged surpassed that of new infections.

As of Tuesday, there were 52 severely ill COVID-19 cases receiving treatment at designated hospitals in the city.

Wu reiterated that neighborhood committees, medical institutions and rescue centers must not refuse residents, especially those seeking emergency treatment, if they cannot present a negative nucleic acid test result within the effective time frame.

"All the institutions must make sure that their green channels are smooth so that patients seeking emergency treatment and first aid can access medical services immediately and properly," she said.

Jiahui Health said that the majority of its nearly 500 healthcare staff have lived at the medical facility since mid-March to guarantee medical services continue as usual.

It said many of the people coming to the hospital during this period had urgent medical needs, such as those who've developed acute diseases, tumor patients seeking chemotherapy, and pregnant women whose expected dates for childbirth are around the corner.

More than 120 babies have been born at the hospital since the city was locked down on April 1.