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Nurses collect throat swab samples from residents of Tangqiao street in Pudong on Monday morning as part of Shanghai’s massive three-day exercise to test its 25 million people for Covid-19. Photo: Daniel Ren

China starts Covid-19 mass testing for 25 million Shanghai residents

  • The gateway city to international trade records 9,000 new cases, with total infections topping 61,000
  • Military personnel and equipment including Y-20 transport planes drafted as three-day rapid test exercise gets under way
In a world first, military transport planes have been drafted to Shanghai, as its 25 million residents undergo a three-day mass testing from Sunday, aimed at cutting Covid-19 transmission chains in China’s most developed metropolis.

Amid a citywide lockdown, Shanghai reported a record 9,000 new cases on Monday, taking total infections since March 1, when the outbreak began, past 61,000 – most of them asymptomatic, making detection difficult.

All of the city’s residents are required to take part in Monday’s nucleic acid testing, with positive results leading to hospitalisation or quarantine within 36 hours of the start of the exercise, which began in the early morning.

On Sunday, all citizens were required to conduct a rapid antigen test on themselves at home.

Shanghai is undergoing a citywide mass Covid-19 testing to spot and quarantine infected people, with Y-20 military transport planes used to bring in health workers and equipment.

“As we are adamant in containing the virus outbreak, it is also of great significance to ensure a smooth operation of Shanghai and its key economic functions,” Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan said on Sunday, during an inspection tour of the city, according to state news agency Xinhua.

“Relevant authorities should mobilise necessary resources to fully support Shanghai’s antivirus measures,” she said.

Several Y-20 planes and 2,000 PLA soldiers landed at Shanghai’s Hongqiao International Airport on Sunday evening. They were among more than 10,000 medical staff and testing professionals, along with equipment from more than 10 provincial governments and the PLA, sent to Shanghai ahead of the exercise, Xinhua said.

Two Shanghai government officials, who asked not to be identified, said the 36-hour mass testing exercise was seen as a “crucial showdown” against the outbreak as Shanghai sought to achieve a dynamic zero-Covid goal in the next few days.

But city officials were not fully confident of the campaign’s success, because of the already sporadic spread of the virus among the public, they said, adding that another round of mass testing across the city would be held in the next few days.

Police have warned residents they face punishment, in accordance with the rules governing virus control and prevention, if they skip the tests.

PLA Air Force Y-20 cargo planes arrive at in Shanghai on Sunday evening to support the city’s rapid mass testing programme. Photo: Handout.

“The intense situation gives me a sense that we are now in a war against Covid-19,” said Mike Wang, a 47-year-old who completed his nucleic test at 6am on Monday. “But I still think it is a difficult mission for a big city of 25 million people to complete the whole process in just 36 hours.”

At residential compounds, organisers including Communist Party officials, property management employees and volunteers are notifying residents of their time slots for the collection of throat swab samples.

As people queue for the tests, they are required to keep at least 2 metres (6.5 feet) apart.

Also on Monday, Wu Qianyu, a senior official at Shanghai’s public health commission, reiterated that children younger than seven years old would be isolated from non-infected parents even if they had no symptoms, citing the country’s unbending antivirus laws and regulations.

The policy sparked a wave of criticism among the public last week, with some arguing that parents should have the right to accompany their children.

Shanghai lockdown puts pressure on China GDP growth, ‘uncertainties’ to come

Shanghai – the gateway for foreign businesses and capital to enter the world’s second-largest economy – has been in a de facto citywide lockdown since Friday, with nearly all residents confined to their homes.

Only a fraction of factories and public service providers have been allowed to operate under a “closed loop” system – which effectively means workers are living at their factories or offices to keep operations running.

The city originally planned a phased lockdown, with Pudong – the linchpin of China’s economy – shutting down between March 28 and April 1, before Puxi, on the other side of the Huangpu River, was cordoned off for four days.

However, only a few residential compounds and commercial areas in Pudong classified as low-risk were allowed to reopen on Friday.

Pudong hosts the country’s biggest stock exchange as well as major ports and international airport. It is also home to Tesla’s massive Gigafactory 3 and the flagship factory of China’s largest chip maker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation.

Across China, the National Health Commission announced 13,137 new Covid-19 infections on Monday, 11,711 of them asymptomatic. Most were identified on Sunday through mass testing.

The northeastern province of Jilin, which is also experiencing a severe outbreak, recorded 3,578 new daily cases on Monday, the health officials said.

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