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Coronavirus pandemic
ChinaScience

Shanghai on Covid-19 alert as new cluster closes bubble tea shop

  • Infections believed to have spread from an imported case, giving Shanghai its first symptomatic cases in a month
  • City tightens its rules for people undergoing health monitoring at home after their quarantine

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The Shanghai authorities have asked people to avoid travelling at Lunar New Year. Photo: Reuters
Dylan Duan
Shanghai has reported its first locally transmitted symptomatic Covid-19 cases in almost a month, two of them employees of a bubble tea shop, which has been closed.

The city’s health department reported two new local symptomatic cases and three asymptomatic cases. It had not reported a symptomatic case since December 17, and its previous asymptomatic case was on Friday last week.

It was found that all five new cases shared the same transmission chain as an imported asymptomatic case reported on Tuesday – that of a Chinese student studying in the United States who had arrived in China on December 21.

After completing 14 days’ quarantine – during which his four Covid-19 tests came back negative – he was serving a further seven-day health monitoring period, when people are allowed to go out but must avoid social gatherings and report their health regularly. On the last day, having been out during the seven days, he tested positive.

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The two symptomatic cases were close contacts of the student and worked at the bubble tea shop. The asymptomatic cases were another employee of the shop, a relative of one of the employees, and another close contact of the student. All but one were fully vaccinated, the Shanghai health department said.

The bubble tea shop, in Jingan district in downtown Shanghai, has been closed.

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