A refrigerated container is transported at Dalian port in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province, April 8, 2020. Photo: Xinhua

The Port of Dalian, China's 10th largest port, issued an urgent circular on Friday stating port workers' trips to Dalian City are banned "in principle," after Dalian entered "wartime mode" due to a new COVID-19 cluster linked to a local seafood processing company, port sources told the Global Times.

Warning all its units to adhere to the city's latest virus control and prevention measures, the port authority has ordered intensified measures at indoor venues including the port's canteen, shuttle bus, meeting room and training center, according to port sources. 

A staff member works at the grain section of Dalian port in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province, April 8, 2020. Photo: Xinhua

The port authority also ordered an epidemiologic investigation into high-risk groups of workers, and grounded all non-essential travel to the city of Dalian and business trips to other cities unless permitted by company management. Trips to Beijing will require approval by Port Group management. 

The port authority has also asked related departments to take effective measures to minimize the impact of the outbreak on the port's cold-chain logistics. All workers in this business section will attend a collective training session on how to protect themselves against the virus. 

Dalian reported two new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 15 new asymptomatic infections on Friday, after a 58-year-old man working at a seafood processing company tested positive on Wednesday, breaking the city's record of zero COVID-19 cases for 111 days.

Dalian on Thursday announced it would test more than 190,000 people across the city, and 18 experts dispatched by the national health commission have arrived in Dalian.

Global Times