E-Paper
China sends in military to help with Shanghai virus outbreak
The government is scrambling to control the worst Covid outbreak in the city since the beginning of the pandemic with 8,581 asymptomatic cases and 425 symptomatic infections reported for Sunday
More than 20,000 medics from across China, including 2,000 from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), landed in Shanghai on Monday to help embattled local health workers as the financial hub rushes to test its nearly 25 million residents for Covid-19 in 36 hours.
In Shanghai, the government is scrambling to control the worst Covid-19 outbreak in the city since the beginning of the pandemic with 8,581 asymptomatic cases and 425 symptomatic infections reported for Sunday.
Health authorities began testing residents from dawn on Monday in one of the largest mass testing operations globally since the first reported outbreak of Covid in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.
The PLA air force deployed the Y-20, one of its largest transport aircraft, to fly medics and medical aid to China’s biggest city, while nearly 15,000 medics from the neighbouring Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces set out by bus early on Monday to help out in Shanghai, state media reported.
“Other provinces, including Hubei, Jiangxi, Shandong and Hainan, have also dispatched medical teams to the city, which include not only nucleic acid testing professionals and also doctors and nurses to give care and treatment to Covid-19 patients admitted in hospitals,” the state-run newspaper China Daily reported on Monday.
Overall, China reported 13,137 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, including 11,771 asymptomatic ones, the second consecutive day the country reported over 13,000 cases, the National Health Commission (NHC) said on Monday.
China’s ongoing countrywide outbreak has not only put unexpected pressure on its health care infrastructure in Shanghai and the northeastern province of Jilin, but it has also left authorities looking for new ways to respond to the surge in cases driven by the more transmissible Omicron variant.
Photos and videos showed residents of Shanghai, under a lockdown since last week, queuing up to be tested at daybreak. The local government urged residents to actively take the test, while maintaining calm and order.
Food and daily necessities are also being sent to the city to ensure a steady supply of necessities, so that there is no panic buying.
The deployment of military doctors and aid is an indication of the seriousness of the situation.
“The medical staff were drawn from seven medical units affiliated with the army, navy and joint logistics support force. Upon arrival in Shanghai, they quickly carried out medical treatment, nucleic acid testing and other essential tasks,” the PLA Daily reported.
A Chinese air force heavy transport Y-20 aircraft was parked at an airport in Shanghai early Monday morning.
The Y-20 military aircraft was last deployed in Wuhan to deliver aid to the city when the outbreak was at its peak in early 2020. China’s current mobilisation is its largest public health response since then. At the time, the PLA dispatched over 4,000 medical personnel to the province of Hubei, of which is Wuhan is the capital, according to the state council (China’s cabinet).
Shanghai’s two-stage lockdown, which began last Monday, has been expanded to confine practically all residents to their homes. Authorities on Sunday also asked residents to test themselves for Covid using antigen tests.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged the country to curb the momentum of the outbreak as soon as possible while sticking to the “dynamic-clearance” policy.
Vice-premier Sun Chunlan, sent to Shanghai by the central government over the weekend, urged the city to “make resolute and swift moves” to curb the pandemic.
