A
medical worker collects a swab sample of a resident for nucleic acid
testing at a community in Yu'an District of Lu'an City, east China's
Anhui Province, May 15, 2021. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu)
HEFEI/SHENYANG,
May 16 (Xinhua) -- East China's Anhui Province and northeast China's
Liaoning Province have stepped up contact tracing and mass testing in
efforts to contain the latest COVID-19 resurgence. Health
authorities in Anhui, where seven confirmed locally transmitted cases
and seven asymptomatic carriers had been reported by Sunday noon, said
all recent infections are related to an offline training session at a
photo studio in Yu'an District of Lu'an City. The
cases so far are either session participants, studio employees,
customers, or their close contacts, according to the provincial health
commission. Anhui
on Thursday reported its first confirmed case in the recent COVID-19
resurgence, a 29-year-old female from Lu'an. As of Sunday noon, Lu'an
had reported five of the seven confirmed cases in the province, while
the other two emerged in the provincial capital of Hefei. All seven
asymptomatic cases in Anhui were reported from Lu'an. Gene
sequencing analysis conducted by the provincial center for disease
control and prevention found the coronavirus behind the cases were not
the highly infectious mutant strains found in India and South Africa. Epidemiologists
are still working to determine the "patient zero," said Dong Mingpei,
deputy head of the provincial health commission. The
cities of Lu'an and Hefei have both launched citywide nucleic acid
tests in the wake of the new infections. As of Sunday noon, nearly 1
million people in Lu'an and about 170,000 people in Hefei tested
negative for the novel coronavirus. Experts have basically ruled out the possibility of mass infections in Anhui, Dong said. A
medical worker (2nd, R) records citizens' information for vaccination
at a vaccination site in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, May 16,
2021. (Xinhua/Du Yu)
Meanwhile,
the second round of mass testing covering all 500,000 people in
Bayuquan District, Yingkou City, Liaoning Province was launched on
Sunday. The district reported the majority of Liaoning's recent new
cases. As
of 7 p.m. Sunday, Liaoning had reported nine confirmed locally
transmitted COVID-19 cases in the latest virus resurgence, of which
three were reported on Sunday. According
to the Yingkou municipal epidemic prevention and control headquarters, a
confirmed case recently identified in Anhui had been treated in a
clinic in Bayuquan District due to a sore throat, and the doctor who
treated the case was later reported as an asymptomatic case. Bayuquan District Sunday closed all educational institutions and private clinics over infection concerns. The
National Health Commission has dispatched a working group to guide the
COVID-19 prevention and control efforts in Liaoning, the commission said
Sunday.
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