Photo: VCG

Yangzhou in East China's Jiangsu Province reported 38 new local COVID-19 infections on Sunday, the seventh day in a row that more than 30 new cases have been reported on a single day; however, Nanjing, despite being the origin of the most recent resurgence, reported no new cases for the first time since July 20. 

While the epidemic status in Nanjing signaled a sign of stabilization and improvement, the resurgence in Yangzhou has become the province's most heavily-burdened in the fight against the epidemic. 

The provincial health commission has allocated and dispatched 4,050 personnel as of Sunday to support the combat against the epidemic in Yangzhou. 

According to the Jiangsu Commission of Health, Yangzhou has reported a total of 346 local cases, including six critical and 23 severe cases, since the first infection reported in the city on July 28 who came from Nanjing. 

New confirmed cases on a single day amounted to a peak of 58 on August 5. As of Sunday, the daily number of new local cases has been exceeding 30 for seven consecutive days since August 2. 

This outbreak in Yangzhou has its origins in Nanjing, where a 64-year-old woman surnamed Mao left her residence, which had been put under closed management, and traveled to Yangzhou on July 21 without authorization. 

She did not take the initiative to report her residency or travel history to Nanjing and frequently entered densely-populated venues such as restaurants, shops, clinics, chess and card rooms and markets, resulting in the spread of COVID-19 in Yangzhou and causing extremely serious consequences. 

Mao has been placed under criminal detention and investigation for the suspicion of the crime of impairing the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. 

To prevent spillover cases from Yangzhou to other cities, Jiangsu has temporarily closed 91 highway toll station entrances and exits across the province with 26 national and provincial highways temporarily closed off as well. 

However, the irregular setting and disorderly organization of a nucleic acid testing site at Guangling district in Yangzhou has led to at least 35 people having contracted the virus from a COVID-19 infected person surnamed Wang at the site when tests were taken on July 29. 

Over the past few days, Yangzhou authorities have strengthened supervision and inspection over key venues and spotted a series of problems related to epidemic prevention and control in terms of health code scanning, temperature taking, mask wearing and queuing distance. 

The provincial governor Wu Zhenglong said on Saturday that the outbreak in Yangzhou was in a concentrated period and the situation of prevention and control was grim and complex. 

Global Times