Shanghai closed-loop management effective in preventing COVID-19 importation

BEIJING - Shanghai has seen no local infections caused by imported cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as of Sunday. This is due to the city's closed-loop management efforts for preventing COVID-19 importation, a health official said on Monday.

More than 110,000 people arriving in Shanghai from outside the Chinese mainland have been quarantined and managed in closed-loops so far, with 326 COVID-19 cases confirmed, said Fu Chen, director of the Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention. He made the announcement at a press conference of the State Council's inter-agency task force for COVID-19 epidemic responses.

The first loop was activated upon passengers' arrival at the airport. People showing symptoms were sent by ambulances to hospitals for further examination while others were sent by specially assigned vehicles to quarantine facilities, Fu said.

The second loop referred to the transportation process. Enclosed roads were established at the airports and across the city.

The last one was the management of quarantine facilities, which are staffed by disease control professionals as well as medical and service personnel from local clinics and communities.

Besides helping to verifying passengers' health conditions at the airport, the center has been offering professional guidance on the location, layout and sterilization of the quarantine facilities and verifying cases found during quarantine, Fu added.