Shanghai clarifies quarantine policies for foreign arrivals
A staffer checks the health declaration form of a foreign passenger at Pudong International Airport on Wednesday.
All people who have lived or traveled in coronavirus affected countries such as South Korea, Italy, Iran and Japan in the 14 days prior to their arrival in Shanghai must undergo 14-day quarantine at home or in designated places for medical observation, city officials said at a press conference on Wednesday.
The decision was made based on the World Health Organization’s assessment of the global epidemic situation and related expert analysis, as well as measures taken by other provinces and cities in China, said Yin Xin, director of the news release department of the Shanghai Information Office.
Yesterday, local officials announced quarantine measures from all travelers arriving from "key countries" affected by coronavirus, without mentioning which countries they were referring to.
Yin said both Chinese and foreigners will be treated the same when entering China via Shanghai under the new requirements and they all need to complete a health declaration form and have their temperature measured.
Zheng Jin, a spokeswoman for the Shanghai Health Commission, said that Shanghai Customs had transferred four passengers who showed positive results for coronavirus infection in nucleic acid tests on Tuesday night.
“They are now all in quarantine for medical observation at a designated place and are undergoing further tests and epidemiological investigation, as required by the diagnosis and treatment plans issued by the National Health Commission,” said Zheng. “We will report to the public if any of them was confirmed with infection.”
Every suspected case should receive two nucleic acid tests within at least a 24-hour interval. The diagnosis must be based on clinical and imaging results and receive expert group consultation.
According to CCTV, by midnight on Tuesday, customs authorities across China's mainland had found 6,728 incoming passengers with coronavirus infection symptoms. Among them, 779 were identified as suspected cases, with 75 showing positive results from nucleic acid tests. All of them have been transferred to health authorities for further investigation and treatment.
