Twelve new infections are sufficient reason for the Chinese authorities to test all more than nine million residents of the city of Qingdao for the corona virus. There are long lines in front of the ad hoc set up test centers, the job still has to be done this week.
The infections can all be traced back to Qingdao Xiong Ke Hospital, where Covid-19 patients from abroad are being received. A nurse in the corona ward was found to be infected. She in turn infected her husband, who is a taxi driver. There the trail comes to a dead end: during the holiday week, last week, he transported an unknown number of people.
That number could well be high. With its sea breeze, boulevard and old German colonial center – where the famous Tsingtao beer is brewed – the city is a popular holiday destination. In the past two weeks, 4.47 million tourists have visited Qingdao, according to local authorities.
Travelers are kept separate and tested
China has not had local infections for months. After more than 85 thousand infections, the official number of deaths stopped at 4,634. Travelers entering the country are kept separate from the population and tested several times. A handful of infections are still diagnosed daily among this group. The last time the virus was transmitted locally (not by travelers) was in Urumqi, the capital of northwestern Xinjiang, on August 15.
The number of infected patients without symptoms is not included in the list of the total number of infections by the National Health Commission. The number of asymptomatic infections rose from 23 to 32 new infections on Sunday, mainly imported cases. Because people without symptoms often see no reason to get tested, those numbers are likely not complete.
Local authorities intervene immediately in case of infections. The patient himself is isolated in a hospital. Close contacts are tested and may be required to be quarantined for fourteen days. This also detects any infections without symptoms.
Nobody gets away with half the job
It is not very subtle. At the beginning of this year, when the virus raged in Wuhan, Beijing made it clear that drivers cannot get away with half the battle. Nobody wants a new seat of the fire on their conscience, so if local authorities find it necessary they close off neighborhoods, factories and office buildings.
In Qingdao, the Emergency Department of Xiong Ke Hospital has been closed immediately. Residents of the buildings where the infected persons live are not allowed outside. Such a quarantine takes fourteen days. Thanks to such tough local measures, the rest of China continues to function as it did before the pandemic.
After news of the 12 infections in Qingdao became known, other cities have also taken measures. Jinan, the provincial capital where most tourists came from, requires everyone who has visited Qingdao since September 23 to undergo two tests plus one blood test. If there are antibodies in the blood, the person was previously infected.
Friday the mega job must be done. Earlier this year, Wuhan’s 11 million residents were tested to make sure the virus had cleared from that city. To achieve this, the laboratories analyzed several samples at once. If such a party tested positive, the testers zoomed in. It is unclear whether the mass testing in Qingdao is going this way. Monday evening, more than a million people were tested – with negative results.
Fires in East Asia
In addition to Qingdao, there are more cities in East Asia where the corona virus causes small outbreaks of infection. For example, 63 new infections were counted in the South Korean capital Seoul on Monday, a slight increase compared to the trend. There were 97 new cases across South Korea.
The Korean government responds with a mixed package: previously announced easing continues, but the wearing of masks will be mandatory from Tuesday. Anyone who does not wear a face mask in public transport and in publicly accessible buildings could be fined 100,000 won (74 euros). Many Koreans already covered their mouth and nose.
The easing means, among other things, that gatherings outside can number more than 50 people and that bars and nightclubs open. In May of this year, the corona pandemic in South Korea seemed already under control and the clubs opened. That immediately resulted in an outbreak and so they had to close again.
Figures are also rising slightly in Hong Kong. In all urban areas in East Asia, the contamination level is much lower than in the Netherlands and other European countries. In Taiwan there are almost no infections anymore.
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