Jiangsu guards against COVID-19 rebound in winter, spring

2021-01-19 16:07:00

The COVID-19 response taskforce of the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Transport has urged strengthened efforts to guard against an epidemic rebound over the winter and spring.

The Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year, is usually a period of busy travel so it’s necessary to get well-prepared to prevent imported cases from abroad and tackle possible cluster outbreaks.

Jiangsu will strengthen the transport control for passengers passing through medium and high-risk areas, tighten the epidemic response in key venues including airports, bus stations and ports, and also buttress the monitoring of imported cold-chain foods.

The taskforce required all regions to activate emergency management, suspend inter-provincial road transport for passengers that depart from or end at medium and high-risk areas, and also hold off chartered buses from such areas. It also urged railway stations, bus terminals, airports, and passenger ports to strictly enforce the response measures, such as disinfection, ventilation, wearing masks, and information recording.

Photo taken on April 22, 2020 shows passengers accept temperature test befor entering Nanjing South Raiway Station. Photo/CFP

Transport enterprises need to improve efforts for disinfection, ventilation, and testing of staff’s temperature. Port operators and shipping companies need to comply with the standard procedures, ensure supply of living necessities for crew members, and properly dispose waste and sewage from ships.

On the front of imported cold-chain foods or goods from high-risk areas, Jiangsu will make full use of a tracing system to track and trace people and cargos. For example, preventive disinfection will be adopted for cargo and containers from high-risk aeras.

The taskforce has demanded transport departments at all regions to implement a rigorous health monitoring system and carry out weekly nucleic acid tests for drivers, crew members and other personnel engaged in the operation of imported cold-chain goods. Efforts should also be made to make sure key groups will get vaccination before the travel rush of the Spring Festival.