The Chinese megalopolis of Shanghai (over 26 million inhabitants as of 2019), which reported only 16 cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday 15 June, will conduct mass tests on the entire resident population every weekend, until the end of July. This is the latest demonstration of the “zero tolerance” measures that the Chinese authorities are adopting against the virus, despite the impacts on the economy.
A temporary lockdown will also be imposed on residential complexes where a Covid case is detected in the week leading up to the weekend tests, said Zhao Dandan, an official with the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission. The block will be lifted once everyone in the complex has been tested.
Daily tests for many categories of workers
In an effort to detect cases early and disrupt the chain of transmission, city residents will have to undergo molecular testing at least once a week through the end of July, with workers from supermarkets, barbershops, pharmacies, shopping malls and restaurants being held. to daily tests. Delivery workers must perform both a molecular test and a rapid antigen test every day.
The staff of banks, gas companies and industries also have to perform an antigen test every day.
“Covid zero” policy confirmed
The decision regarding Shanghai, which has just emerged at the beginning of June from another block that lasted two months, confirms the Chinese government’s willingness to stick to the “Covid Zero” policy even in the face of the super-transmissibility of the various sub-variants of Omicron.
Tens of thousands of laboratory test booths have been set up in large cities to allow for frequent swabs and help uncover chains of infection early and avoid lockdowns that can impact the economy. Overall, China only reported 80 local cases nationwide on Wednesday, June 15.