Shenzhen vows to mobilize all resources to stop COVID-19

Chinese metropolis Shenzhen in the south promised to “mobilise all resources” in its fight against an epidemic of COVID-19, requiring tight testing and temperature checks and lockdowns for buildings affected by the virus’ spread.

On Wednesday (July 20), Shenzhen, home to approximately 18 million people, reported 22 new domestically transmitted cases, bringing the month-to-date daily count up from single digits.

Shenzhen officials have stepped up vigilance to comply with the central government’s “dynamic zero” policy of suppressing outbreaks as soon as they appear, even if the caseload is still tiny by global standards.

As a precaution, the city of Shenzhen has ordered the evacuation of high-risk areas, including residential compounds and structures. Officials have been instructed to refocus their virus prevention efforts in order to minimize the impact on the economy.

We will “mobilize all resources and adopt all measures to immediately reduce the possibility of a community spreading in important locations, fiercely cut transmission networks, and contain the outbreak as quickly as possible,” stated the president of the Communist Party of Shenzhen Meng Fanli.

Meng also cautioned, in a statement released late on Wednesday, that the municipal government would hold authorities firmly accountable for any negligence that resulted in the virus spreading.

There were 13 illnesses identified in Shenzhen’s Nanshan area on Wednesday, home to tech titans Tencent and DJI, out of the city’s 22 cases.

For one week in March, people in Shenzhen were required to undergo repeated rounds of testing and mostly remained at home, with one member of each household permitted to leave every few days for essentials while caseloads rose into the low double digits.

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This was the shortest lockdown of the cities affected by COVID with populations greater than 10 million, and it was milder than the one in Wuhan in 2020.

There have been daily testing lineups on the streets since March. Rather than enforcing a complete lockdown of the city, Shenzhen has chosen to isolate specific neighborhoods where fresh cases have been discovered.

However, some residents have paid a psychological toll as a result of the actions.

“Every day I wake up and check the difficult chat group with dread,” said Ella, who operates a firm in the field of education.

This is the worst part of having to justify where I’m going and what I’m doing in order to leave and return.

An American woman and her husband have decided to move back to the United States, Ella said.

The National Health Commission said on Thursday that China has 826 new local COVID-19 cases for July 20, including the most recent cases from Shenzhen, of which 148 were symptomatic and 678 were not.

Following similar COVID-19 limits announced on Monday in two districts with a combined population of over 2 million, the northern port city of Tianjin has suspended numerous entertainment venues in another two districts with a combined population of over 1 million.

The death toll in the country remained at 5,226.

There have been 228,180 cases of flu-like symptoms in China since the pandemic began in December 2019, including both local and international cases.