As the coronavirus outbreak in Beijing has now ended, China is battling new clusters of infections that emerged in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, the port city of Dalian in Liaoning province, and in Hong Kong.

In Dalian, employees working at the Dalian Kaiyang Seafood Co were found to be infected, with the source of the infection unknown. Local seafood markets remain closed and some subway services were suspended. 12 new confirmed cases were reported on July 26. The outbreak ended Dalian’s record of zero Covid-19 cases for 111 days. All the new cases were working in the same area at a local seafood processing company, according to an official report. To curb the spread of infections, the city plans to test its six million residents within four days. The seafood company has suspended its operations and all employees are under medical observation. Dalian authorities said they had acquired detailed information related to the imported products and trading channels of the company, and they will begin to track the source of the infection as soon as possible. The Covid-19 cases could deal a blow to the seafood industry in Dalian, a coastal city that relies heavily on the seafood business, even though authorities did not reveal whether the first patient contracted the virus through seafood or cold-chain products. The Chinese government also issued a guideline, demanding that all imported meat products must be provided with a nucleic acid test certificate before coming into industrial plants for processing, the Global Times reports. Meanwhile, the infection originating in Dalian has spread to six other cities in three provinces.

In Urumqi, nucleic acid testing for more than 1.6 million people was completed, including all the residents in Tianshan district where most confirmed cases were reported as well as in Shaybak district. Urumqi reported more than 100 cases, and about the same number of asymptomatic cases since the outbreak started on July 15.
“First Wuhan’s Huanan seafood market; then the Xinfadi wholesale market in Beijing and now the patient working at a seafood company, it reminds us of the risks associated with cold chain products and how easily they can spread Covid-19,” Wang Guangfa, Respiratory Expert at Peking University First Hospital in Beijing said.

Hong Kong is going through its third wave of the pandemic. The city was setting records last week and 128 new cases were reported on July 26 – the fifth consecutive day of a three-digit spike in cases – taking the total number of infections to 2,633, with 18 related deaths. The AsiaWorld-Expo center is being converted into a ‘mobile cabin hospital’. The Center for Health Protection’s Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan said the next one to two weeks will be key in determining if social-distancing measures are working. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said she would institute a lockdown only if ‘absolutely essential’. Dr Chuang added: “We are very worried about whether this situation can be controlled actually.”

Experts said sporadic cases might be common in the future, underscoring the significance of implementing regular disease control measures and taking precautions. According to newly-released documents, public facilities that see dense and highly mobile crowds – such as office buildings, hotels, malls, banks, restaurants and food markets, as well as institutions that are deemed at higher risk of spreading the virus, including primary and high schools, elderly care homes, prisons and mental health clinics – should all step up their preparedness for the virulent disease. Preparations will include stocking virus control equipment, formulating emergency plans, enforcing strict temperature-taking and implementing social-distancing protocols. In low-risk areas, these public facilities can operate normally. However, in medium- or high-risk areas, business hours will be shortened and the number of people gathering reduced. Cinemas, theaters and karaoke bars in medium-or high-risk areas should be closed. In-person visits to elderly care homes, child welfare homes and prisons will be prohibited and replaced with virtual visits, the China Daily reports.

From July 27 onwards, people who arrive in Shanghai from overseas can spend half of their quarantine period at home if certain conditions are met, local authorities announced. On condition that they have residency in the city, live apart from family members who don’t have to be quarantined or live with people who agree to be quarantined along with them, they will be sent home to resume their quarantine on the eighth day if their nucleic tests on the fifth day are negative and if they apply to be quarantined at home. Qualified persons will be transported directly from collective quarantine facilities to their homes by the authorities of the districts in which their homes are located. Meanwhile, the government said it will continue to allow conditional home quarantine for senior citizens, underage people, pregnant and breast-feeding women, people with mobility restrictions, those who have to take care of other family members, and people with certain diseases. For those whose destinations are Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces, after seven days of collective quarantine in Shanghai, they will be transported to their destinations to continue their quarantine under the condition that their nucleic tests on the fifth day are negative. Those whose destinations are other parts of China will still be placed under 14-day concentrated quarantine, the Shanghai Daily reports.

KLM Royal Dutch airlines resumed passenger flights from Amsterdam Schiphol to Shanghai following the relaxation of travel restrictions by the Chinese government. KLM now operates one flight per week to Shanghai, and makes a stop in Seoul on both outbound and inbound flights. Apart from KLM, other foreign carriers such as Air New Zealand, Delta, United Airlines, Air France, Lufthansa, Swissair, Aeroflot and Turkish Airlines have also resumed flights to Shanghai. Finnair also resumed flights between Helsinki and Shanghai. Passengers on China-bound flights must provide negative Covid-19 test results (for Chinese passengers) or health certificates issued by the Chinese Embassy (for foreigners) before boarding.