11月20日早间英文播报：China expands its arsenal in COVID battle

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Disease control and prevention workerscollect samples from frozen products in Tianjin's Nankai district on Nov 9.[Photo/China Daily]

Nation'slockdown, testing measures become more targeted after fine-tuning

Stringent monitoring of cold-chain foodimports and the fine-tuning of lockdown and testing strategies are China'slatest weapons in the battle against COVID-19 as the country braces forpossible outbreaks this winter.

While local transmission of the novelcoronavirus has been under control for months, public health experts in Chinahave highlighted the risk of new outbreaks linked to the virus hitching a rideon imports of frozen foods.

As domestic life and production return tonormal, experts have hailed local governments' efforts to replace blanketlockdowns and citywide tests with more targeted and economical measures toreduce disruption to socioeconomic development.

"A growing body of evidence shows thatfrozen seafood or meat products are likely to bring the virus from severelyaffected countries into China," said Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist atthe Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Wu made the comment lastweek in an article posted on the website of the Communist Party of ChinaCentral Commission for Discipline Inspection.

"The discovery has prompted customsofficials to step up testing on imports, and prompted local market regulatorsand health authorities to tighten supervision over the cold-chain sector."

In an interview with China Newsweek lastmonth, Wu said virus transmission risks from contaminated seafood imports arelikely to be greater than those from incoming passengers.

Since June, at least three major outbreakshave been linked to frozen imports, said Feng Zijian, deputy director of theChina CDC, during a recent interview.

That includes the Beijing outbreak in Junewith 335 confirmed cases, the outbreak in Dalian, Liaoning province, in lateJuly with 92 confirmed cases and the outbreak in Qingdao, Shandong province, inOctober that resulted in 14 confirmed cases.

Excluding a major outbreak in Urumqi,Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, that saw over 800 confirmed cases, the threeoutbreaks account for nearly 85 percent of domestic cases since June, accordingto the National Health Commission. The source of infections in Urumqi is stillunder investigation.

Concerns linked to cold-chain food importsare bound to rise as cargo shipments into China increase, according to ZhangWenhong, head of the infectious disease department at Fudan University'sHuashan Hospital in Shanghai.

"Land ports and international airportsin China will need to cope with the risk," he said.

Wu said virus control in the cold-chainsector entails three layers of testing－samples of imported goods and their outer packaging, samples takenfrom vehicles and cold-storage facilities and testing of workers involved inhandling such products.

The tests are being implemented regularlynationwide and have begun to pay off through timely alerts.

CDC officials in Nanjing, Jiangsu province,said on Nov 10 that they managed to block and seal some cold-chain imports fromentering the market after shipments from Argentina tested positive for thevirus during a routine test.

Then, from Friday to Monday, localgovernments in nine regions said they had detected the virus on cold-chain foodimports or their packaging, resulting in the immediate shutdown of affectedfacilities and the sealing of contaminated products.

He Peng, a spokesman for the Tianjin HealthCommission, said at a recent news conference that a local dockworker wasconfirmed to have contracted the virus after a routine test of frozen pork fromGermany tested positive.

"We must adhere to the principle offending off risks carried by both products and people, especially workerscoming into contact with cold-chain food," he said. "Their health isthe basis for blocking contaminated food products."

On Nov 9, the State Council released aguideline requiring thorough disinfection of cold-chain imports aftercollecting samples for testing and urging the establishment of trackingsystems.

On Monday, the Ministry of Transportpublished another guideline urging all companies, docks and freight terminalsinvolved in cold-chain logistics to protect their front-line employees byenforcing safety protocols, monitoring their temperatures and conductingnucleic acid testing. It also stressed the importance of the strict and regulardisinfection of transportation equipment and vehicles.

Wu, from the CDC, said, "Instead ofimposing a reckless and simple ban on all imported food, China has decided tointegrate management of cold-chain products into regular disease control workand mitigate risks to the lowest possible level."

He said the State Council guideline isaimed at ensuring the safety of cold-chain food and safeguarding people'shealth while increasing the efficiency of customs clearance and securing thestability of the industry chain.

Similar efforts aimed at striking a balancebetween curbing the virus and continuing the pace of economic recovery are partof adjustments to the scope and duration of long-standing epidemic controlmeasures.

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记者：王小予

播报：JocelynEikenburg

音频编辑：万月英

原文链接：

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202011/19/WS5fb5ab67a31024ad0ba9502e.html