Tests on 637,644 samples find 3 asymptomatic cases

Medical workers collect samples for nucleic acid tests from residents living near the IBC Mall in Luohu District. DT News

A total of 655,778 samples for nucleic acid tests of COVID-19 had been collected in Shenzhen as of 6 p.m. Thursday, 637,644 of which had been tested, local authorities said Thursday.

No new positive COVID-19 cases have been found except for the two asymptomatic cases reported Aug. 14 and a new asymptomatic case found Wednesday, said Luo Lexuan, chief of the city’s health commission and spokesman of the city’s epidemic prevention and control leading group.

It suggests that the city is at a low risk for a new outbreak of COVID-19, Luo said.

The new asymptomatic case is a 52-year-old female surnamed Wei who lives in Luohu District. The patient is the mother of the male asymptomatic case the city reported Aug. 14.

Five close contacts of Wei have been identified and under quarantine. They have all tested negative for COVID-19.

The three asymptomatic patients are all currently under quarantine in Shenzhen No. 3 People’s Hospital.

Shenzhen has been carrying out large-scale COVID-19 testing following the emergence of asymptomatic patients last week, especially in the key places where the cases surfaced.

A total of 225,000 nucleic acid test samples were collected at the IBC Mall as well as areas close to the mall in Luohu District, and 4,443 samples were collected in Xinxiunan Village of Luohu, where the male asymptomatic case and his mother Wei have lived.

In Longgang District, 262 samples were collected in the residential estate where the female asymptomatic patient lived, and 875 samples were collected at the residential estate where the female patient who tested COVID-19 positive in Shanwei City lived.

As of 12 a.m., Wednesday, 1,197 food samples and 1,779 surface samples had been collected, all of which tested negative for COVID-19.

To tighten COVID-19 screening, the city’s health commission has launched a second round of testing for another 7,517 people starting Wednesday.

At present, the city’s maximum daily nucleic acid testing capacity has increased to 1 million samples.

Shenzhen has also set up a warehouse, where all imported frozen meat and aquatic products must go through package disinfection and nucleic acid tests, said Li Zhong, chief of the city’s market supervision and regulation bureau.

Seventeen batches of frozen products were sampled and 51 samples for nucleic acid tests were collected. All the test results were negative.

The city’s checkpoints have strengthened monitoring for cross-border truck drivers, said Wang Shourui, head of the city’s office of port entry and exit.