Shanghai reports new COVID-19 case related to airport cluster

A 47-year-old male who handles cargo flights for a foreign airline company at the Pudong International Airport is the latest confirmed COVID-19 case in Shanghai, authorities announced on Friday.

The man, a close contact of a previous case, was put under quarantine on Aug 20.

This is the seventh confirmed case - one Ethiopian and six Chinese - in the latest wave of infections related to the airport, according to Wu Jinglei, director of the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission.

As of 8 am on Friday, 11 close contacts and 69 secondary contacts of the case had been identified and put under quarantine. All their initial nucleic acid tests have returned negative.

"Shanghai will improve emergency response capabilities, increase the efficiency of investigation, and optimize prevention and control measures," Wu said at the news conference on Friday morning.

According to Wu Huanyu, deputy director of the Shanghai Center for Disease Prevention and Control, epidemiological investigations have shown that all these cases were exposed to people or contaminated environments and had close contact with each other.

Five of the seven cases were identified after they were put under closed-loop management.

"Residents are encouraged to wear masks, maintain social distancing and maintain personal hygiene, even if they are in low-risk areas," Wu Huanyu said.