Experts reveal rapid and efficient actions of COVID-19 control
Two CDC team members take samples from machines at Pudong International Airport.
The city’s disease control and prevention authorities have recalled their rapid reaction after a local case of COVID-19 was confirmed on November 9.
More than 1,300 people from the Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the center in the Pudong New Area, where the patient lives, took part in the battle.
Led by the director of the city’s center Pan Hao, the team had to find the source of infection in 48 hours, according to the requirements of the Shanghai Health Commission.
But there were few leads as the 51-year-old surnamed Wang, who worked at the West Cargo Terminal of the Pudong International Airport, hadn't visited medium- and high-risk areas of coronavirus infection or been in contact with COVID-19 cases.
After showing symptoms such as fever, nasal obstruction and a lack of strength, he went to a hospital in Pudong.
In a further challenge to the team there was a risk others in the hospital could have become infected.
Team members check surveillance videos about the work of the two confirmed cases at Pudong airport on November 11.
The team members investigated 28 close contacts, 190 close contacts of those 28, and 51 general contacts, including Wang’s family members and colleagues.
They also took samples of 8,000 people. All tested negative, ruling out person-to-person transmission.
During the investigation, a COVID-19 case in Anhui Province was found to be related to Wang.
After hearing about this, the team immediately researched where Wang and his close contacts had been and what they did, right to the very minute and fixed on a key item — an aircraft shipping container that the two had cleaned.
On November 11, five team members went to the airport to check the two patients’ work over 14 days via surveillance videos. Five hours later, they found the pair cleaned the container, originating from North America, without wearing masks for more than 10 minutes.
Analysis confirmed the pair's coronavirus strains were similar to those in North America.
Two team members take samples from steering wheels at Pudong airport.
The finding was reported on November 23. Samples from more than 1,000 items at the airport, including steering wheels, uniforms and water fountains, were taken by 21 team members between November 22 and 24.
The laboratory of the city’s center ran 24 hours a day, with the nucleic acid test capability of around 300 to 400 samples per day.
