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Shanghai, the financial hub of China, today launched another health check for its 25 million residents in a bid to stem the growing spike in Covid-19 cases caused by the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.
Authorities continued to apply new antigen and PCR tests just two days after completing a similar round as the virus continued to circulate, leaving at least 17,077 infected, mostly asymptomatic, in the past few hours.
Overall, they extended the curfew that has been in effect throughout the metropolis since last week until further notice and authorized the parents of infected children to accompany them during their hospital stay.
They are also exploring other locations to set up quarantine stations with an additional 30,000 beds, expanding treatment capacity for patients with mild symptoms of Covid-19.
Shanghai presents the most complex epidemiological scenario amid the outbreak, which has swept twenty regions of mainland China since last March and is believed to be the worst in two years.
More than 38,000 military and civilian doctors from 15 provinces are stationed there to support the fight against Covid-19, and experts say this situation shows the country needs to better prepare before opening borders with lockdown easing Health mechanism reopens.
Aside from Shanghai, Jilin province continues to show high patient statistics and was the second-most impacted demarcation as of this Wednesday, with 2,771.
Meanwhile, Beijing remains in emergency mode after a dozen Omicron infections were detected earlier in the week, some schools turned to online classes and the local government is requiring those in quarantine to take an antigen self-test.
In general, the Asian giant has recorded at least 13,840 deaths and 490,130 cases of Covid-19 in its mainland, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan since the emergence of the disease and the coronavirus that causes it in December 2019.