Since March 1, visits to all nursing homes in Shanghai have been banned; with closed-loop management in place since March 10. Photo: VCG

Shanghai has carried out citywide COVID-19 nucleic acid testing in nursing homes to minimize infection risk as far as possible because seniors are a special group who need greater protection amid the epidemic, local authorities said on Friday.

Nursing home staffs are required to take a nucleic acid test once every two days with aged care residents being tested twice a week, some organizations have also added antigen tests, Shanghai Vice Mayor Peng Chenlei said at Friday's press briefing. 

On Thursday, Shanghai registered 3,200 local COVID-19 cases and 19,872 asymptomatic infections as the city enters a critical period in combating the virus and has recorded over 300,000 infections in this flare-up.

Among the 10 COVID-19 patients in critical condition, at least eight of them are aged between 70 and 93 years old, according to the Shanghai health authorities.

Peng stressed the importance of epidemic prevention and control measures in nursing homes a top priority in addition to strengthening strict management to reduce risk of COVID-19 infection. Since March 1, visits to all nursing homes in Shanghai have been banned; with closed-loop management in place since March 10, according to Peng.

Delivery of goods to nursing homes by non-staff has also been barred, all the express goods must be strictly disinfected before entering a nursing home environment, Peng said. They will also strengthen environmental disinfection.

An employee at Haiyang Jiufeng Senior Home in Shanghai told the Global Times on Friday that the residents are still going about their usual living schedule but they have strengthened management connected to epidemic prevention and control.

For instance, "all the parcels will be put on the shelves outside of our center entrance for at least 30 minutes, all employees must wear face masks and gloves to disinfect them all and the outside packages are not allowed to be brought into the center," one nursing home employee confirmed.  

"All workers in our center who provide services directly to seniors have received COVID-19 vaccines," she said, noting that those who couldn't take vaccines will perform other services without contacting the seniors directly. The aged care center also provided video visiting and online medical services for the seniors.

For those seniors who were able to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, staff will guide them to take the shot with the consent of their families, authorities also said on Friday.

All staff in nursing homes are required to take a COVID-19 vaccine shot, for those who can't take vaccines will be transferred to other positions and will not contact seniors directly, said Peng, noting that Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM) will also be used to for epidemic prevention and control based on the TCM preventive working plan.

The city has also launched a thorough investigation into seniors who live alone in order to provide precise and effective support, according to local authorities.

At Friday's press briefing, the vice mayor also noted that Shanghai has been making efforts to coordinate sufficient venues including sites from neighboring cities of Shanghai for centralized quarantine for close contacts of COVID-19 patients. But he admitted that the authorities still have to improve shortcomings and encouraged residents to provide supervision and advice.