New Flare-Up in Shanghai Traced to Air Cargo Container

What’s new: Public health authorities in Shanghai tracked a recent Covid-19 outbreak in the city back to an air cargo container from North America, officials said.

Contact tracing of recent cases reported in Shanghai ruled out human-to-human transmission among the earliest cases. The outbreak was linked to two cargo handlers who cleaned a container at Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport, suggesting the container as the possible infection source, said Sun Xiaodong, vice director of the city’s health commission, Monday at a press briefing.

Since Nov. 9, Shanghai reported eight locally transmitted cases linked to the Pudong airport, including one new case confirmed Monday night. The latest case was in a UPS employee working at the airport.

The background: The earliest cases of the recent Shanghai outbreak can be traced to the two airport workers who cleaned an import container Oct. 30, according to Sun. The pair didn’t wear facemasks during their cleaning work and were separately diagnosed Nov. 9 and 10.

Chinese health authorities continue to battle a number of cases linked to cargo handlers at several of the country’s ports, who are believed to have contracted the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19 from touching the exterior packaging of imported cold and frozen foods.

Hundreds of flights were canceled at Shanghai’s Pudong airport, one of the world’s busiest transport hubs, as mass testing was launched Sunday for more than 17,719 freight employees at the airport.

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Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bobsimison@caixin.com).

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