Super spreader city KTVs spawn dozens of COVID-19 risk areas
Print Edition
SHANGHAI designated 26 high- and medium-risk areas of COVID-19 yesterday after detecting a host of new infections linked to a KTV and a teahouse, which are under investigation for alleged illegal business operations.
The city reported two community COVID-19 cases yesterday along with another 24 infections who tested positive during central quarantine, according to the Shanghai Health Commission.
“Most of the recent positive cases have been customers of KTVs and their close contacts,” said Zhao Dandan, deputy director of the commission.
He noted that such indoor enclosed entertainment sites usually receive a high density of customers, with poor self-protection habits. They move around frequently, causing the coronavirus to spread rapidly. The current resurgence is again being led by the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
According to epidemiological investigation, some of the sites failed to obey COVID-19 prevention rules or resumed operation without permission. They also failed to ask guests to scan the venue codes.
Some citizens also had poor COVID-19 prevention awareness or refused to reveal their true movements and close contacts during the epidemiological survey, Zhao revealed.
All the 24 positive cases found during central quarantine were linked to a high-risk area at 148 Lanxi Road, a commercial complex in Putuo District. There were frequent movements among the risky groups of visitors, who later went to multiple districts and public venues across the city, he pointed out.
Eighteen subdistricts and towns in nine districts have so far been named in the new cluster of infections and transmission. A mass nucleic acid screening in a dozen districts of Shanghai is being conducted through today.
The citywide transmission mainly originated from the FreePort KTV on the fourth floor of the site and a teahouse/KTV on the third floor, according to Xu Shujie, deputy director of Putuo.
Both entertainment sites were suspected of illegally resuming operations without authorization, failing to implement COVID-19 prevention rules or engaging in unlicensed activities.
Investigations have been launched on the alleged violations of the two sites, said Xu, who pledged to impose strict punishment.
Two other downtown KTVs, the Xanadu Club at 85 Loushanguan Road in Changning District and the Sky Music at 785 Hutai Road in Jing’an District, have also been elevated to high-risk areas.
Twenty-two sites, including communities and hotels in Huangpu, Putuo, Minhang, Jiading, Xuhui, and Yangpu districts as well as the Pudong New Area, are now medium-risk areas.
Meanwhile, yesterday’s two community infections are a 19-year-old man from Hongkou District and a 34-year-old woman resident of suburban Songjiang District.
Both are confirmed COVID-19 cases with mild conditions. They’ve been to shopping malls, restaurants and office buildings along with a pub and a water park.
Their residences at 515 Jiulong Road in Hongkou’s Beiwaitan Subdistrict and 86 Pingyuan Street in Songjiang’s Xiaokunshan Town were elevated to high-risk areas.
The reopening of all local KTVs has been postponed following the recent resurgence, Jin Lei, deputy director of the Shanghai Administration of Culture and Tourism, announced yesterday.
Other entertainment sites, such as chess and card rooms and room escape game venues, will gradually reopen based on the pandemic situation.
Shanghai began restoring the operations of museums, art galleries and tourism attractions from July 1. So far, 25 art galleries, 29 museums and 84 tourism sites have reopened, attracting a large flock of visitors, Jin said.
Cinemas and performance stages will be allowed to reopen from tomorrow to help revitalize the city’s culture and tourism industry amid the pandemic, he added.
Following reports of scattered COVID-19 cases in the city, a few Shanghai tourist attractions and swimming pools have closed or adjusted their reopening schedules.
The Playa Maya Water Park in Songjiang District, which reopened on Saturday, has announced that it will be closed again yesterday and today due to COVID-19 control requirements. Those who purchased tickets will be given a full refund, its operator said.
The Gaojing branch of Shenjianqiang Swimming Club, which was scheduled to reopen on Monday, has announced that it will delay its reopening, with an exact date yet to be determined.
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