CHINA DAILY | HONG KONG EDITION Thursday, January 28, 2021 | 5 CHINA FROM THE GRASSROOTS Search for Women on front line last missing of virus testing battle miner will By LI LEI and ZHANG YU in Shijiazhuang We would stop continue Authorities in Shijiazhuang, Hebei’s provincial capital, have eating or drinking By ZHAO RUIXUE in Jinan rolled out a series of citywide two hours ahead of [email protected] nucleic acid testing campaigns fol­ lowing a spike in COVID­19 cases our shifts and solve It will take some time to search for this month. all of the personal a remaining worker who has been Many more are still to come at trapped underground for 17 days district or county levels, creating matters (to speed up after explosions at a gold mine huge numbers of samples. testing).” under construction in Qixia, Shan­ Turbocharging the effort are dong province, due to difficulties tens of thousands of lab techni­ Yang Hongke, a head techni­ draining water and clearing obsta­ cians from across the nation — an cian at a clinical testing lab in cles, the rescue headquarters said. Shijiazhuang, Hebei province army of mostly female medical Rescuers and divers searched sev­ college graduates who have eral times in the space above the No worked grueling hours on night A police officer helps distribute food to residents of a Shanghai community put under closed management 6 section, which is more than 600 shifts to get the job done. two hours ahead of our shifts and on Wednesday due to a new confirmed COVID­19 case detected on Tuesday. YIN LIQIN / CHINA NEWS SERVICE meters from the shaft entrance, but Yang Hongke, a head technician solve all of the personal matters,” she failed to find the worker, the rescue at a clinical testing laboratory in said. headquarters said on Tuesday night. Shijiazhuang, her home city, is one Yang joined the lab in 2017 after Around 1.6 meters of water has of them. graduating from a medical school accumulated above the floor of No 6 The city, which has a population in Beijing. section, it said, adding that rescuers of 11 million, spotted a novel coro­ When COVID­19 infections won’t stop searching until they find navirus infection in a sprawling began spreading nationwide early Most new COVID­19 the worker. rural neighborhood on Jan 2. Soon last year, Yang was among many The accident trapped 22 workers afterward, large numbers of KingMed employees sent for train­ underground. Eleven workers were throat swab samples began ing at the company’s headquarters lifted to safety on Sunday, 10 work­ streaming into labs, usually as in Guangzhou, Guangdong prov­ ers died and one remains missing. night fell. ince, to meet the surge in demand cases in Heilongjiang “We never stopped believing that That’s because the mass sample for testing. we would be saved,” a worker sur­ collection missions were conduct­ Since then, her schedule has named Zhang, 63, said at the hospi­ ed during the day at residential been tuned to fulfill the needs of tal on Tuesday. communities or the workplaces of the nation. Six areas will continue strict lockdown Wang Huiqun, deputy director of He organized trapped workers to those who had to keep working She was deployed to Beijing and the department. stay in safe places and adopt meas­ despite a sweeping stay­at­home then Wuhan early last year as part management for seven more days Beijing recorded four new con­ ures to save themselves. order. of a task force to aid testing drives. firmed cases and one asymptomatic After a hole was drilled to the sec­ That meant testing personnel When she returned to Shijia­ By ZHOU HUIYING in Harbin BGI Genomics. They will boost the carrier on Tuesday. tion where Zhang and 10 other had to work on what Yang, 28, zhuang in May after outbreaks [email protected] lab’s testing capacity to more than All of the confirmed cases were in workers stayed, rescuers sent down called “American schedules”, refer­ on the Chinese mainland had 20,000 tubes of samples a day, local a residential community in Daxing food, flashlight, paper and pencils. ring to the time difference largely been stamped out, Yang The Chinese mainland recorded media reported on Wednesday. district, where a number of cases Zhang wrote a note telling rescuers between China and the United joined testing missions aimed at 55 new locally transmitted con­ Meanwhile, workers at Harbin have emerged lately, the capital’s about their conditions. States. ensuring students’ safe return to firmed cases of COVID­19 on Tues­ Dahuanghuanyu New Technology health commission said. Zhang ended the note with “We “The faster we do the testing, campuses. day, the lowest daily number since are busy producing a new disinfec­ To further curb the risk of hope the rescue work continues, the sooner people will get the She said she was thankful to her Jan 11. tant. imported cases, Beijing said people and we remain hopeful.” results,” she said, explaining that boyfriend, a salesman, for being The lion’s share came from Hei­ “It contains more environmental­ from low­risk areas in the country “We then got a response from the positive results are central to supportive of her job, which usual­ longjiang province. Data from the ly friendly ingredients without an who plan to visit Beijing from rescuers,” Zhang said. “They told us deciding to place people under iso­ ly requires business travel and an provincial health commission unpleasant or irritating odor,” said Thursday to March 15 should bring they wouldn’t stop the rescue and lation for treatment or further unconventional work schedule. showed 29 new confirmed cases Sun Zhichao, head of the company’s a negative nucleic acid test result the best rescuers and best equip­ medical observation. Yang and her colleagues have were detected, with 12 in Harbin, factory. The company’s daily output taken within seven days of their ment were working on saving us Yang is among 60 technicians at helped test 220,000 tubes of sam­ the provincial capital, and 17 in has increased by 50 percent to meet arrival, said Xu Hejian, spokesman around the clock.” a lab owned by KingMed Diagnos­ ples since Jan 5. Each tube Wangkui county in Suihua. The demand and guarantee supplies. for the Beijing municipal govern­ The State Council’s Office of the tics who have been working on includes one, five or 10 swab sam­ province also detected 28 asympto­ As of Tuesday, there were 486 ment, adding that people from Work Safety Commission sum­ shifts from midnight to 8 am for ples, and they are tested all at once matic cases on Tuesday, all in the confirmed cases and 529 asympto­ medium­ and high­risk areas and moned Shandong province officials weeks. — a practice known as pool test­ two areas. matic carriers in Heilongjiang. ones where communities are to talk about the accident on Wearing hazmat suits and face ing. When samples from 10 people Six areas in Suihua, including Neighboring Jilin province under lockdown management Wednesday. shields, they are determined to are tested in one go and test posi­ Wangkui, will continue to conduct recorded 14 new confirmed cases on should not visit Beijing during the The accident occurred around 2 report test results on schedule, tive, authorities contact each per­ strict lockdown for another seven Tuesday, driving its caseload to 294, period unless they get approval pm on Jan 10. But it was not until 8 even against their own interests. son and get them retested days, officials said on Wednesday. the provincial health commission from their provincial virus control pm the next day — 30 hours later — Though the supply of protective individually. “Over the past seven days, resi­ said. and prevention department. that it was reported to the local equipment is sufficient, many Among the 60 technicians dents in these areas, where positive A work team led by Gao Guang­ In Shanghai, one new local case emergency management authority. offered not to drink water or use working long nights, more than 80 cases were reported, have stayed at bin, deputy Party secretary of Jilin, was detected on Tuesday. There The mine delayed reporting and bathrooms throughout their percent are women and 90 per­ home in self­quarantine,” Guo has arrived in Tonghua, which was are clear epidemiological links hid the truth about the accident aft­ shifts, as front­line health workers cent are below the age of 30, lab Jianmin, director of the city’s heavily affected by the recent out­ between all 16 locally transmitted er it took place, which seriously did in Wuhan, Hubei province, management said. health commission, said. “To lower break, Jilin Daily reported. As of COVID­19 cases in Shanghai, and affected rescue prospects, the meet­ earlier last year due to a shortage He Haiyu works under Yang’s the risk of virus spread, experts Tuesday, there were 204 confirmed none of them contracted the virus ing heard. of essential supplies. supervision at the Shijiazhuang advised that the quarantine period cases and 74 asymptomatic carriers from an unknown contact, said Wu The province was urged to learn The aim is to speed up a process lab. The 25­year­old from Gansu should be prolonged.” in the city. Jinglei, director of the city’s health from the accident and carry out that involves extracting and con­ province was deployed twice to As the number of COVID­19 cases The provincial finance depart­ commission. thorough production safety inspec­ densing nucleic acids for testing — the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous has soared in Heilongjiang, local ment is promoting a subsidy policy Hebei province recorded seven tions to prevent such accidents from which typically takes up to several region last year to help in mass enterprises are continuing epidemic for medical and epidemic preven­ new confirmed cases on Tuesday, happening again. hours and demands strict adher­ testing drives. prevention and control efforts, tion workers in major affected areas. the second day with a single­digit The Ministry of Emergency Man­ ence to complex safety protocols She was often soaked in sweat in including beefing up testing capacity. “Medical workers on the front rise since Jan 4. agement has sent a team to Shan­ due to infection concerns — and her hazmat suit, which she could Twelve white, tent­like inflatable line will receive a subsidy of 600 dong to oversee the investigation writing test reports. wear for up to 10 hours. facilities have been built at a labo­ yuan ($93) per day and the others Du Juan in Beijing, Zhou Wenting into the accident. Any people At the height of the testing cam­ “Hazmat suits are our armor,” ratory in Harbin operated by will receive 400 yuan per day, dou­ in Shanghai and Han Junhong in responsible for the delay in report­ paigns, Yang could only rest for a she said. “I feel a sense of obliga­ Shenzhen­based biotech company ble the national standard,” said Changchun contributed to this story. ing must be held accountable, it said. few hours before another shift tion in them.” began to ensure samples did not pile up. Contact the writers at “We would stop eating or drinking [email protected] PLA flights near Taiwan a warning to foreign forces

By ZHANG YI interests of compatriots on both pendence” in an attempt to split the complex and severe cross­Straits [email protected] sides and protect the prospect of country and undermine the peace­ relations. She said the DPP is now peaceful reunification across the ful development of cross­Straits attempting to solidify the collusion Frequent flights by People’s Liber­ Straits,” she said. relations, Zhu said. with the new US government. ation Army aircraft near Taiwan are Zhu said that Taiwan is an inte­ They have seriously damaged the She urged the US to deal with the a warning to foreign forces to stop gral part of China and the country’s interests of compatriots on both Taiwan question carefully, saying: interfering in China’s internal affairs, will and determination to safeguard sides and the fundamental interests “It concerns China’s core interests Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for national sovereignty and territorial of the Chinese nation, she said. and the feelings of the Chinese peo­ the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs integrity remain unchanged. Taiwan media reported that there ple. It is the most important and Office, said on Wednesday. In order to effectively respond to were more than 10 flights by PLA sensitive issue at the core of China­ The deployments resolutely safe­ foreign forces and a small number aircraft in airspace near Taiwan US relations.” guard China’s sovereignty and terri­ of “Taiwan independence” separa­ over the past weekend. Foreign Ministry spokesman torial integrity and warn “Taiwan tists, the Chinese mainland will not The US State Department issued a Zhao Lijian urged the US on Monday independence” secessionist forces promise to renounce the use of force statement on Saturday, urging the to abide by the one­China principle to stop provocations, Zhu said when and reserves the option of taking all Chinese mainland to stop pressur­ and the three China­US joint com­ Technicians conduct nucleic acid testing at a lab in Shijiazhuang, commenting on recent PLA Air measures, she said. ing Taiwan and to engage in mean­ muniques, and refrain from sending Hebei province, on Sunday. Testing personnel were summoned Force drills in the Taiwan Straits. For some time, the ruling Demo­ ingful dialogue with Taiwan. any wrong signals to “Taiwan inde­ from across the nation to support the city’s mass testing effort “Only by doing so can we safe­ cratic Progressive Party on Taiwan Zhu said the DPP has relied on the pendence” forces so as to avoid dam­ when a major COVID­19 outbreak occurred in the city earlier this guard peace and stability in the Tai­ and separatist forces have been US to seek “independence” in the aging China­US relations and peace month. WANG ZHUANGFEI / CHINA DAILY wan Straits, safeguard the common making provocations for “inde­ past four years, which has led to and stability across the Straits.

Qingpu, which is part of the dem­ ental Beauty Valley industrial park. onstration zone for Yangtze River Nanhui, which is also known as Shanghai to speed up building of five ‘new cities’ Delta integration, will place more Lingang New City, is in a pilot free emphasis on environment­friendly trade zone and is connected to By XING YI in Shanghai “The five new cities are the top and comprehensive transportation “Each city shall develop its unique research and development. Shanghai Yangshan Deepwater Port [email protected] priority in Shanghai’s strategic plan hubs in the five new cities. industry, achieving industrial and Songjiang boasts clusters of by a sea­crossing bridge. It has for future development,” Gong said, The development of the five sat­ urban integration by providing resi­ emerging industries such as elec­ advantages in international trade, Shanghai will accelerate the referring to Jiading, Qingpu, Song­ ellite cities around Shanghai’s dents with public facilities, a pleas­ tronic information, integrated cir­ cross­border finance and modern building of five “new cities” in its jiang, Fengxian and Nanhui. downtown area was first men­ ant environment and convenient cuits and artificial intelligence shipping. suburbs to optimize its develop­ According to the city’s 14th Five­ tioned in the city’s master plan for transportation,” he said. located along the G60 Corridor, a Gong said that detailed action ment layout and boost economic Year Plan (2021­25) and Long­term 2035, which was released four years Jiading has been leading Shang­ national expressway that connects plans for each city are being formu­ growth in the next five years, Mayor Vision for 2035, which was approved ago. hai’s automobile industry develop­ Shanghai and Hangzhou. lated, and the government will Gong Zheng told a news conference by the municipal people’s congress, Gong said the new cities will ment for more than two decades. In Fengxian has been building up its launch construction of major infra­ on Wednesday after the conclusion the government will support the become independent nodes among recent years it has focused on new­ beauty and healthcare industry in structure projects and high­level of the annual session of the munici­ building of major industrial projects, the city clusters in the Yangtze River energy and self­driving vehicles and recent years, and it plans to attract schools, hospitals and public service pal people’s congress. high­quality public infrastructure Delta. intelligent sensors. major cosmetics companies to its Ori­ facilities in the new cities.