Shanghai tightening COVID-19 measures

Shanghai will strengthen health checks for inbound travelers, teachers, and students after the city reported a new local asymptomatic COVID-19 case on Wednesday, a week ahead of the start of the school term.

The new case, involving a 43-year-old man who had traveled outside Shanghai, was found in Kangqiao township, Pudong district.

The man returned to Shanghai on Sunday, and tested positive on Tuesday.

A total of 43 close contacts and 16 secondary contacts have been identified and quarantined.

And the neighborhood in which the infection was identified has been locked down while testing is carried out.

Zhao Dandan, deputy director of the Shanghai Health Commission, said the city will step up regular health checks at airports, railway stations, and bus terminals, as well as in hotels and residential communities.

"The epidemic control and prevention faces pressure as the traffic in and out of the city has increased during the summer break," Zhao said.

Inbound travelers to Shanghai from epidemic hotspots will be required to undergo seven-day centralized quarantines, while those with travel histories from medium-level risk areas will be required to undergo seven days of home quarantine, Zhao said.

Yan Bo, vice-governor of Pudong, said around 620,000 students and teachers will return to the classroom on Sept 1.

Before the semester begins, schools will have to contact students and teachers and ask for their travel histories and health status. Each person will also need to conduct 14 days of self-monitoring, and take two nucleic acid tests within three days before they will be allowed onto school sites, Yan said.

Yan added that each school has set up a testing station, and the district has designated eight testing facilities that will be sued to analyze samples from schools.

"We have made a contingency plan for eight epidemic control scenarios in schools, which will ensure quick handling of COVID-19 outbreaks should any case happen on school campus," he said.