Shanghai extends curbs, tests 25M people for COVID-19

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – Thousands of medical workers from across China were in Shanghai on Monday for the start of a citywide campaign to test all of its 25 million residents for COVID-19.

Some 38,000 medical staff from 15 provinces, including 2,000 medics from the Chinese military, have been sent to Shanghai in recent days to help curb an omicron-driven surge in a city under lockdown since March 28.

Local authorities announced that the country’s most populous city “will continue with COVID-19 control management and strictly implement measures requiring residents to stay at home unless seeking urgent medical treatment,” state-run daily Global Times reported.

The city on Monday reported 425 confirmed and 8,581 asymptomatic domestically transmitted cases.

The financial hub is one of the regions hit worst during an unprecedented COVID-19 wave that saw China report more than 100,000 infections in March alone.

Apart from strict lockdowns and mass testing drives, authorities have also ramped up vaccination efforts in the country of 1.4 billion people.

Another vaccine – an mRNA jab developed by vaccine giant CanSinoBIO – was cleared for clinical trials by China’s drugs regulator on Monday.

There are already six vaccines approved for use in China, where some 88% of the population has been immunized with locally developed jabs.​​​​​​​