Chengdu set for new round of COVID tests

Chengdu, Sichuan province, reported 90 local COVID-19 cases and 50 asymptomatic carriers on Sunday, bringing the current tally to 940 and 395, respectively, the Sichuan Health Commission said on Monday.

As the current pandemic situation is still severe and the risk of community transmission is high, the Chengdu epidemic prevention and control headquarters decided on Sunday evening that citywide testing will be carried out again from Monday to Wednesday.

Chengdu started citywide static management at 6 pm on Thursday in the aftermath of the recent COVID-19 outbreak, which began on Aug 25.

From Thursday to Sunday, residents were required to stay home, and unnecessary business activity was suspended. Households under lockdown were permitted to send one member with a negative nucleic acid result obtained within 24 hours to go out for two hours a day to buy daily supplies.

Chengdu has completed three rounds of nucleic acid testing for its residents, collecting around 20 million samples each time. In the past three days, the number of positive cases detected by nucleic acid testing had decreased, Yang Xiaoguang, director of the Chengdu municipal health commission, said on Sunday.

Chengdu's pandemic prevention and control is in a critical period. Zero COVID-19 status at the community level has yet to be achieved, so the city's prevention and control measures cannot be relaxed, he said.

Schools and kindergartens in Chengdu have postponed the start of the new semester and implemented online education instead. Off-campus training institutions suspended their activities, he said.

As no positive cases have been found in the Xinjin district or Qionglai city in Chengdu for many days, normal production and daily life will be restored in those places. Residents can go out and work if they have a negative test result obtained within 24 hours, according to the Chengdu COVID headquarters .

Residents in Chengdu, except those in Xinjin and Qionglai, will be required to stay at home from Monday to Wednesday.