The Chinese Covid-19 virus is linked to 102 infections

The individual, who was working as a salesman promoting health products for the elderly, had traveled from his hometown Heilongjiang Province to neighboring Jilin Province, carrying the virus with him.

Authorities claim he unintentionally spread the virus among the elderly population for several days before health officials tracked him down as he was in close contact with a confirmed case.

“The widespread phenomenon in our province occurred mainly because when the superoxide was discovered, it was still in its initial stage of infection and had a relatively strong ability to clear the virus,” said Zhao Qinglong, an official in Jilin Province. Center, the state news agency Xinhua.

a A hyperpublic event It occurs when an individual infects a large number of people, due to a high viral load in their drops, or due to other factors such as behaviors and timing.

The apparent widespread event occurred in Jilin as China grappled with the worst outbreak of coronavirus in months, which has seen hundreds of cases reported and tens of millions of people under lockdown in its northern provinces.

It also showed the extent and speed of contact tracing and screening by Chinese health authorities, which have played a critical role in taming local outbreaks.

Detailed itinerary and privacy concerns

The seller was diagnosed as a confirmed case of Covid-19 on Sunday, after it was initially identified as an asymptomatic carrier last Tuesday, according to the Jilin Provincial Health Commission. China records asymptomatic infections separately from the official case count.

Commission A. Detailed itinerary Of the seller’s trips in the week he previously tested positive for the virus, including four train trips (with seat numbers listed), three bus trips and a subway ride, back and forth between Heilongjiang and Jilin.

Over the course of four days, the man held four “health seminars” or marketing sessions in community health clubs targeting the elderly residents of Gongcheoling and Tonghua, Jilin.

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In total, the individual infected 79 people who attended the seminars, and then proceeded to infect 23 of their close contacts, said Zhang Yan, deputy director of the committee, at Press Conference Sunday. The average age of those infected is 63, Zhang said, the oldest is 87.

Zhang said that all the infected people had been tracked because they had close contact with the man and were placed under quarantine, before they were tested positive for the virus during medical observation.

Although it is an effective contact-tracing tool, the announcement of the detailed travel history of coronavirus patients has also led to privacy concerns in China.

Last month, a young woman was in the southwestern city of Chengdu Shame in public On social media because of her “degenerate” lifestyle, users attacked her for going to a bar and several nightclubs for the two weeks before she tested positive for the virus.

Community health clubs are under scrutiny

The widespread and widespread Jilin event has brought community health clubs under further scrutiny by health experts and authorities.

A health club in Tonghua is located in a room on the ground floor of an old apartment building, where 30-40 people attended the man’s seminar, wearing a few masks. Xinhua mentioned.

“The injured have gathered in a closed place for a long time,” Zhao, a health official in Jilin, told Xinhua. “Most of them are middle-aged and elderly people with underlying health conditions and weakened immunity, and therefore are highly susceptible to infection.”

So-called “health clubs” that provide elderly care services are becoming increasingly popular among residential communities in China, with regular marketing sessions, often described as “health lectures,” held to promote health products such as supplements and physiotherapy equipment.

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Unlike cinemas, restaurants, karaoke halls and other commercial places, these clubs are often hidden in residential buildings and difficult for authorities to regulate, according to Xinhua.

A market surveillance official in Jilin Province said at the press conference that Jilin authorities are investigating whether the two health clubs in which the man had promotions violated any regulations.