18 New COVID Cases, Quarantine Time to be Further Reduced?

By Ned Kelly, July 22, 2022

Shanghai Health Commission reported a total of 3 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases this morning, Friday, July 22. A further 15 local asymptomatic cases were also reported.

Of the 3 new local cases reported, 3 tested positive during central quarantine, while 0 tested positive during regular screening.

Of the 15 new local asymptomatic cases reported, 15 tested positive during central quarantine, while 0 tested positive during regular screening.

Reduced quarantine time...

China is considering further shortening the quarantine period for overseas arrivals, while imposing more precise anti-epidemic restrictions, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention have announced.

It is part of its efforts to optimize the COVID-19 response amid Omicron BA.5 subvariant-dominated outbreaks in at least 20 Chinese province-level region.

"We will continue to collect and study new problems and difficulties that locals are facing in dealing with COVID-19 outbreaks ... such as whether the quarantine period can be further shortened and low-risk areas can be more precisely classified," said Wang Liping, research fellow at the CDC.

Wang went on to say that the move would be "to minimize the impact of the epidemic prevention and control measures on China's economic and social development and people's lives."

Responding to the news, virologist Jin Dongyan from Hong Kong University told the Global Times, "Data proves that most infected cases with BA.4 or BA.5 are prone to infect others within three days after a positive test, so if infected cases can be more easily tracked and quarantined, it is possible to shorten the quarantine period to three days at the minimum."

Three days, eh?

At the end of June, China eased restrictions for overseas arrivals into the country, with 7-day centralized quarantine plus 3-day ‘health monitoring’ at home (the ‘7+3’ policy) the norm:

Test history records reduced in health app...

The past PCR test records on display in Shanghai's Suishenban health app have been reduced, with only results since July 6 being shown. It previously displayed results from the past three months.

The change comes on the back of orders prohibiting prejudice against job seekers who had previously been infected with COVID-19, with some in the job market having experienced rejection despite having fully recovered and posing no health risk.

Mandatory testing extended to end of August...

Mandatory weekly nucleic acid tests for Shanghai residents has been extended to August 31, the city's COVID-19 prevention authority has announced. Free testing will also be extended until the end of August.

Citizens are now subject to at least one nucleic acid test per week, said the authority, otherwise their health code will turn yellow... which we understood to have been the rule since early June?!

In other COVID news...

With sporadic community infections reappearing in the city, authorities are encouraging people to get their COVID-19 booster shot. If you haven't had yours yet, here's how to sign up:

China’s travel code, used for checking the travel history of people in the country, now only checks the travel history of users over a 7-day period, as opposed to the previous 14-days:

That restrictive star symbol will no longer appear on the Travel Code app:

A negative PCR test result obtained within the last 72 hours is currently a must in Shanghai should you wish to take part in 'normal life' – click the link below to find out where to get one:

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