Shanghai introduces zones to ease restrictions

Shanghai registered 26,087 COVID-19 local infections, including 914 confirmed cases, on Sunday. The daily number of newly reported infections in the city has surpassed 20,000 for four consecutive days.

Liang Wannian, head of the National Health Commission's COVID-19 task force, said epidemic control measures such as lockdowns may cause temporary inconveniences, but they are necessary in the long term.

"Take Shanghai, for example. We've taken strict measures in order to think about the big picture of the entire country, including the municipality itself, to get back to normal in the long term," he said on Sunday.

Shanghai's health authority said that more than 3,000 people who tested positive for COVID-19were released from medical observation on Sunday after recovering. It was the highest number of COVID patients released in a single day, since the current outbreak started in March.

"The figure for Monday is expected to reach a new high," said Wu Jinglei, director of the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission.

Jiang Rui, director of the Shanghai Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau, said transportation of recovered patients is adhering to strict closed-loop management protocols.

"Recovered individuals must undergo seven days of self-health monitoring at home, refrain from going out, stay in a well-ventilated room separate from their family members if possible, and avoid close contact with them," she said.

Hu Bijie, who is on the expert team for COVID-19 medical treatment in Shanghai, said there was no evidence recovered patients were spreading the virus.

"Even though there are reports at home and abroad that recovered COVID-19 individuals showed varying degrees of testing positive again, we have found that they haven't caused infections in the surrounding population," said Hu, who is also director of the department of infectious diseases at Shanghai Zhongshan Hospital.