China reports less than 50 new Covid-19 cases daily
August 4, 2020 Category Health, Weekly
Barricade at the entrance to a residential compound in Dalian in February
The last couple of days, China daily reported less than 50 confirmed cases and less than 25 asymptomatic cases. However, before dropping again, the number of daily infections discovered had risen to the highest in three months, propelling fears of a new wave of the pandemic.
New clusters have now been detected in several cities. A cluster in Dalian in Liaoning province spread infections to eight other cities within five days, and the city government decided to test the whole population within four days. The comprehensive testing prioritized residential communities that are densely populated, with all costs covered by the government, the Dalian Health Commission said. The Commission assigned more than 3,300 medical employees to assist in administering nucleic acid tests. Like in Wuhan and Beijing, Dalian also adopted the sample pooling test method, mixing five samples together as a group. If found positive, each sample will be tested separately to determine which one is infected.
As the number of cases in Hong Kong continue to increase, the SAR government first banned in-house dining in the evening, then expanded it to include breakfast and lunch, to retract the expansion after only 48 hours because many employees had no other option but eating in the street even in high temperatures and heavy rain. A truck driver traveling between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland was confirmed with a Covid-19 infection, prompting Shenzhen to test thousands of residents and step up measures to prevent the port from becoming a loophole in the mainland’s epidemic control work. Given frequent interaction between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, and the worsening infection situation in Hong Kong, analysts said Shenzhen ports as well as nearby cities should raise entry requirements and conduct more tests to identify silent carriers and reduce transmission risks. Wang Peiyu, Deputy Dean of Peking University’s School of Public Health, said it is unrealistic to completely shut down the border ports between Hong Kong and Shenzhen given the frequent interactions. A more realistic method to prevent the virus from spreading is that the Shenzhen side should manage to identify silent virus carriers and give repeated tests if necessary to reduce the risks of allowing people with false-negative nucleic acid tests in, Wang told the Global Times. Medical personnel from mainland China is going to Hong Kong to help conduct mass Covid-19 testing, after the city confirmed another 121 coronavirus cases, the tenth straight day of triple-digit increases in infections. Mainland staff will also help with the construction of community isolation and treatment centers. Hong Kong has reported 3,396 Covid-19 cases since the beginning of the epidemic and 33 related deaths.
Northwest China’s Xinjiang Region is also still fighting against Covid-19 clusters. Experts said after gene sequencing the virus in Xinjiang that it is similar to the viral strain of Beijing’s recent outbreak, and that with support from across China, the region is expected to bring the situation under control within one to two weeks. There is a large number of asymptomatic cases. Many patients were tested before they showed symptoms, which is a good sign for epidemic control, Zhang Yuexin, Director of the Infectious Disease Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, told the Global Times. Yang Zhanqiu, Deputy Director of the Pathogen Biology Department at Wuhan University, told the Global Times that the summer season and high temperatures might weaken the effect of the virus on individuals so they display fewer symptoms.
The China Daily reported that Sansure Biotech, a company based in Changsha, Hunan province, has independently developed a fast Covid-19 nucleic acid testing system, which shortens detection time to within one hour. The system doesn’t require a professional laboratory and gives a test result within 15 to 45 minutes. The system obtained the National Medical Products Administration approval and the European Union’s CE mark in April.
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