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Covid-19: China sends military aircraft, doctors to Shanghai
Shanghai is preparing to carry out Covid-19 tests on around 25 million residents in 36 hours, one of the largest mass testing operations globally since the pandemic started in Wuhan in 2019.
BEIJING: China early on Monday landed one of its largest military transport aircraft with 2,000 healthcare workers from its armed forces in Shanghai as the financial hub prepares to carry out Covid-19 tests on around 25 million residents in 36 hours.
Overall, China reported 13,137 fresh Covid-19 cases on Sunday including 11,771 asymptomatic ones, the second consecutive day the country reported over 13,000 cases.
China’s ongoing country-wide outbreak has not only put unexpected pressure on its healthcare infrastructure in Shanghai and the northeastern province of Jilin, but it has also left authorities looking for new ways to respond to the Omicron-led surge in cases.
In Shanghai, health authorities began testing residents from Monday dawn in one of the largest mass testing operations globally since the pandemic started in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.
Photos and videos showed residents of Shanghai, under a lockdown since last week, queuing up to be tested at daybreak.
The local government has urged Shanghai residents to actively get the tests done amid calm and order.
Food and daily necessities are being sent to Shanghai to ensure a steady supply of necessities so that there is no panic buying.
The Shanghai government is scrambling to control the worst Covid-19 outbreak in the city since the beginning of the pandemic with 8581 asymptomatic cases and 425 symptomatic infections being reported for Sunday.
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 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) daily reported.
A Chinese Air Force heavy transport Y-20 aircraft was parked at an airport in Shanghai early Monday morning, a state media report said.
The Y-20 military aircraft, one of the largest transport aircraft China has, was deployed in Wuhan to deliver aid to the city when the outbreak was at its peak in early 2020.
Several provinces and cities including Zhejiang and Beijing have dispatched doctors and healthcare workers to Shanghai as the city’s health infrastructure feels pressure from the surge in cases.
Some estimates say the total number of healthcare workers from other parts of China could be as high as 10,000.
It is China’s largest public health response since it tackled the initial Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan. The State Council or China’s cabinet had said that the PLA dispatched over 4,000 medical personnel to the province of Hubei in early 2020, the capital of which is Wuhan.
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.
