Shanghai Airport Isolates 17,000 Employees After Five COVID-19 Cases

It has been a year since COVID-19 started turning our world into a chaotic place. What started in just a small wet market in Wuhan, China, has caused unimaginable damage to the world.

While China now has got a hold of its situation, the entire world still continues to fight the virus causing the pandemic. Now, five new COVID-19 cases have emerged from the second-largest airport in China and the 11th-busiest in the world.

Shanghai Pudong International Airport has reported discovering 5 new cases of COVID-19. Following the incident, the authorities have been forced to cancel hundreds of flights. Moreover, 17,000 employees working at the airport have also been isolated to test for the coronavirus. The infected people worked in the cargo department. Out of the five cases, three of them were working at the cargo area of the airport, with FedEx and UPS. Two other people were spouses. Among these cases, the first surfaced on November 9.

After the incident, authorities carried out a mass testing drive. On November 22, 277 flights were canceled. And on the next day, around 500 flights were canceled. The mass testing was done with 17,719 employees at the airports. Among them, seven are positive.

On the Internet, there are videos showing a heard of people gathering in poorly illuminated passageways. They are being blocked by medical staff in PPE suits.

It hasn’t been clarified if the people could go back to their homes or they would be put under quarantine. However, the airport’s vice president did mention that they would inject high-risk cargo workers with China’s emergency-approved COVID-19 vaccine.