China’s northern most port city of Dalian is scrambling to
control an outbreak of COVID-19 launching a mass testing program after a virus
cluster was identified. Operations at the port were briefly interrupted and
according to some reports the cold chain portion of the port remains closed.
Located on China’s northern Pacific coast, Dalian is one of
China’s ten largest ports handling approximately 10 million TEU annually. It is
also a primary transshipment port receiving shipments from Asia for distribution
into the Chinese mainland.
Chinese state media reports that the outbreak was identified
on December 15 with an asymptomatic individual who reportedly worked as a
loader for a cold chain importer. Other reports mention a restaurant worker.
The Chinese media said that testing began and operations at the cold-chain
supply were paused to ensure that no contaminated food entered the supply
chain.
Between December 15 and 24, the outbreak grew with between
15 and 20 confirmed patients and as many as 20 additional confirmed
asymptomatic cases. Announcing that they had added seven patients on Thursday,
December 24 as well as one more positive test on a person not showing symptoms,
China increased its response across the city.
Several neighborhoods in the Dalian area have now been
ordered to go into lockdown with schools and other public places closed.
Residents are being told to stay home except for essential travel to work.
Citywide, only residents who have a negative COVID test are being permitted to
leave the city, while the Hong Kong Standard newspaper reports that a third of
flights out of Dalian have been canceled.
The Chinese government also launched a mass testing program
to identify the scope of the clusters in the city. Several million residents in
six areas of the city were asked today, December 25, to immediately undergo
testing and the government warned that individuals who did not test and spread
the virus would be investigated under Chinese law.