China to Add Quarantine Facility in Shanghai for 40,000 People

Cumulative Infections in Shanghai Exceed 73,000 Since March, Surpassing Wuhan Figures
Western-Style Self-Isolation Also Under Consideration Within China

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] Shanghai health authorities in China are creating a temporary quarantine facility capable of accommodating 40,000 people. Despite an 8-day lockdown, confirmed cases surged, prompting the decision to build additional quarantine facilities.

Photo by Pengpai Capture

Inside China, it is reported that if the number of COVID-19 cases in Shanghai continues to rise, there is consideration of isolating infected individuals at home rather than in facilities. This suggests that a modification of China's 'Zero (0) COVID' policy is being discussed.

According to Chinese media including the state-run Global Times on the 6th, since March, more than 73,000 people in Shanghai have tested positive for COVID-19 (including asymptomatic cases). This exceeds the peak number of confirmed cases in Wuhan city two years ago, which was 50,000.

There are criticisms that the spread of the Omicron variant is so rapid that China's existing quarantine and lockdown policies have been helplessly breached.

As the situation shows little improvement, Chinese health authorities announced the day before that they will establish a separate quarantine facility at the Shanghai International Convention Center capable of simultaneously accommodating 40,000 people.

Gu Honghui, Deputy Secretary of Shanghai, said, "The most important task now is to quickly identify confirmed cases and isolate infected individuals in separate facilities," adding, "Once the quarantine facility is ready, we plan to isolate 30,000 infected people immediately."

Shanghai health authorities have also prepared a plan to send some confirmed cases to Zhejiang Province near Shanghai. Since the pandemic began, China has never transferred regional infected individuals to other cities or provinces. This indicates that the COVID-19 situation in Shanghai is far more severe than publicly known and suggests that existing policies are being revised.

Chen Xi, a professor of public health at Yale University in the U.S., told the Global Times in an interview, "The option of isolating asymptomatic patients at home is being discussed," and diagnosed that "the speed of Omicron transmission and infection will be faster than the speed of creating temporary quarantine facilities." The introduction of home isolation signifies a change in China's Zero COVID policy.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In contrast, Zhang Wanhong, director of the National Center for Infectious Disease Medicine, insisted on maintaining the existing Chinese-style quarantine policy, saying, "What is currently lacking is not medical resources to treat severe patients but quarantine facilities."

Hongzhou, a specialist from the National Health Commission, confidently stated that Omicron will not collapse Shanghai's medical system and argued, "If there are sufficient quarantine locations, the Omicron crisis can be fully overcome."

Chinese media have expressed optimistic forecasts that Shanghai will stabilize after about seven days of observation, as testing of all 25 million residents has been completed.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.