File Photo: Yang Hui/GT

Shanghai on Thursday placed a man under criminal coercive measures for suspected interference in COVID-19 control, the first criminal case of its kind in the city. The man concealed his trip to the virus-hit region and entered public areas before he was confirmed with novel coronavirus infection, the authority announced on Friday.

The man has recovered, and has been discharged from the hospital. Fifty-five people who had close contact with him have been put under quarantine. 

The city takes a zero tolerance policy against behavior which impedes epidemic control. Local police cracked down on 26 cases of producing and selling fake and substandard epidemic control materials, arrested 60 suspects and seized more than 30 tons of counterfeited disinfection supplies, according to the authority.

Fourteen people have been arrested for allegedly conducting telecommunication fraud in the name of selling masks and protective suits, with more than 1.45 million yuan ($207,700) recovered for the victims.

Shanghai vowed to continue to carry out inspections of the city's pharmacies, supermarkets, wet markets and catering units to prevent counterfeit and substandard epidemic control materials from flowing into the market and to root out wild animal trade.

As of January 31, the city has provided 195 millon yuan to help poor families and homeless people.

From January 24 to February 13, the city's relief agencies have helped 456 vagrants and beggars, none of whom were found infected with the COVID-19 infection.

Shanghai has also asked local grassroots management to help people from other cities and are faced with serious economic difficulties because of getting infected with COVID-19 during their stay in the city.

To improve inspection efficiency and alleviate the traffic jam, the city opened 81 lanes at 9 provincial express way exits during rush hours.

Police from Shanghai, East China's Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces have set up a cooperating mechanism to crack down on epidemic control-related crimes, facilitate intersection checks among provincial borders and ensure material supply and efficient information exchange on infection situations in the Yangtze River Delta.

From midnight to noon on Friday, no new confirmed case was found in Shanghai and 28 people have recovered from the infection. As of noon on Friday, Shanghai has cleared a total of 1,539 suspected novel coronavirus infection cases.