I. Cases:

This morning, the National Health Commission announced a new local suspected COVID-19 case in Shanghai. The individual was diagnosed by our medical experts later as a confirmed case and transferred to Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center for quarantine and treatment. Now I would like to give more details.

The patient, the 47-year-old female surnamed Ke, is a permanent resident from Wuhan. She accompanied her husband to Shanghai for medical treatment.

Ms. Ke and her husband arrived at Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station by taking a CRH train at around 11:45 in the morning on May 11, and then took Metro Line 10 and Metro Line 8 to 7 Days Inn Shanghai South Xizang Road Subway Station Branch in Huangpu District. During the stay in Shanghai, she accompanied her husband to a hospital for medical attention. Their body temperatures showed no abnormality when they were checked by hospital staff upon arrival, and the hospital also identified their green health code. As her husband needed to be admitted for surgery, the hospital conducted sampling and testing on the couple in accordance with the rule that all their inpatients and accompanying caretakers are subject to nucleic acid testing on May 18. On May 19, the hospital released the result that her husband was tested negative for COVID-19, but she was positive. In addition, the chest CT images showed mild chronic inflammation in both of her lungs. The hospital placed her under quarantine for medical observation promptly and reported to the authority for disease control and prevention for verification as per regulations. After verification, Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the patient was tested positive for COVID-19 at 23:43 on May 19.  

At 00:00:49 on May 20, Ms. Ke was reported as a suspected COVID-19 case to the National Notifiable Disease Reporting System (NDRS). Therefore, she was not listed as a suspected case in Shanghai from 0: 00 to 24: 00 on May 19.

On the morning of May 20, Ms. Ke was diagnosed as a confirmed COVID-19 case after expert consultation and was transferred to Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center for quarantine and treatment.

According to the epidemiological investigation, both the patient and her husband were tested negative at a local hospital in Wuhan on May 8. Currently, the municipal disease control and prevention authority is working around the clock with the public security organ to trace her whereabouts in Shanghai and carrying out terminal disinfection of all the sites that the case has been to. After our tracing, a total of 4 close contacts have been found during her stay in Shanghai and sent to centralized quarantine facilities for medical observation.

I know that our citizens would also like to be informed of the previous case found a few days ago from Qianjiang City, Hubei Province. The individual now is in a stable condition and receiving medical treatment. All the traced contacts during his stay in Shanghai have been sent to centralized quarantine facilities for medical observation and tested negative for nucleic acid testing.

This morning saw another three patients (one male and two females of Chinese nationality) discharged from hospital. Medical institutions will conduct necessary follow-up visit and observation on them to keep track of their health status.

II. Medical Treatment

We will work all out to ensure medical treatment of the COVID-19 patients in Shanghai. We will further enhance the management of fever clinics, optimize the service procedures, and keep ramping up the building of sentinel fever clinics in the community health service centers.

By placing equal importance to normalized COVID-19 prevention and control and regular medical services, medical institutions at all levels in Shanghai will further strengthen appointment-based medical services in staggered periods and carry out their services in an orderly manner on the basis of strengthening the prevention of nosocomial infection and strictly implementing all measures to better satisfy the public needs.

Shanghai Municipal Health Commission will continue the guidance on the COVID-19 prevention in schools and ensure sanitary supervision over and inspection of various places and sites in Shanghai.

Given that the COVID-19 prevention and control has been normalized, we will adhere to the strategy of preventing the coronavirus from entering and spreading within the city and implement more targeted measures to ensure rigorous and effective COVID-19 prevention and control in an orderly manner. Therefore, we will continue to deploy tight checks at the entrance, pay attention to and maintain good order in residential areas and hotels, manage transient populations, serve businesses in the work and production resumption, protect students and faculty members in schools, and bring into full play the sentries for inspection. We will also put all kinds of prevention and control measures in place for re-opening schools of all varieties and keep working hard on all fronts through such measures as enhancing disinfection and ventilation in the public places and sites, requiring reservations and limiting passenger flow in the business places of culture and tourism industry, and reminding the citizens of health protection.