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Chinese Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan on Saturday urged Shanghai to make resolute and swift moves to curb the latest flare-up of COVID-19 pandemic there, as the city with a population of more than 25 million is facing the toughest battle to date against the Omicron variant. 

Shanghai on Sunday reported 438 local confirmed coronavirus cases and 7,788 local asymptomatic infections. Among them, 16 confirmed cases and 6,773 asymptomatic carriers were detected within the closed-loop management system.

Sun stressed unswerving adherence to the "dynamic zero-COVID" policy, asking related departments fully applying to their respective functions and professional advantages, mobilizing testing capacities, medical personnel, and prevention supplies to support Shanghai.

Sun noted that it is "an arduous task and huge challenge" for Shanghai, a global-level metropolis with a population of more than 25 million to combat the virus, while at the same time try to maintain the normal functions of core departments and enterprises.

The nucleic acid testing capacity should be improved soon and mass testing should be implemented to "ensure each resident is tested", as a way to have a clearer picture of the current epidemic situation, Sun said.

Sun also pointed out that it is necessary for Shanghai authorities to expand COVID-19 makeshift hospitals and designate professional hospitals to treat the patients. 

The vice-premier also called for the preparation of sufficient quarantine facilities and the fast transfer and treatment of patients, as well as an epidemiological investigation system in time to track at-risk groups in Shanghai. 

She stressed the importance of ensuring all Shanghai residents' basic living conditions and medical treatment, and set up a strict preventive and control management system within communities to prevent the epidemic from spreading to other places.

For those key industries and institutions, strict closed-loop management should be implemented to ensure the normal operation of core functions and unimpeded supply chains in Shanghai.

Sun arrived in Shanghai on Saturday after her inspection in Northeast China's Jilin Province, the other province hit hard by the latest wave of outbreaks. 

The Chinese mainland has reported over 10,000 local COVID-19 infections in March in 29 provincial-level regions, and cases discovered in Jilin and Shanghai accounted for about 90 percent of the total cases discovered in the past three days.

The latest COVID-19 flare-up in Jilin has been successfully contained, local authorities announced Saturday, as the province reported a drop of 44.1 percent in caseloads last week.