Chongqing- From midnight to 24 pm on March 12 Beijing time, Chongqing reported eight new confirmed locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, and one asymptomatic case, all of which were Chongqing City Management College students, according to the press conference on Saturday, and website of Chongqing Municipal Health Commission. So far, the municipality reported eight confirmed local cases and two asymptomatic cases, 14 confirmed cases from abroad, including seven from Hong Kong and seven from Singapore, and 18 asymptomatic cases from abroad, including nine from Hong Kong, eight from Singapore, and one from Thailand.

Eight screened positive from close contacts

As of 12 pm on March 12, the first round of COVID-19 testing has been carried out for 323 people who had close contact with the infected ones in Chongqing.

Among 122 people who have received results, eight students from Chongqing City Management College were initially screened positive and then confirmed. One hundred and fourteen people tested negative, and the remaining samples were still being tested, according to Li Pan, deputy director of the Chongqing Municipal Health Commission.

One screened positive from key risk personnel

In addition, 123,500 key risk personnel conducted nucleic acid tests.

Among 33,100 obtained test results, one student from Chongqing City Management College tested positive in the initial screening, other results were negative, and the rest of the samples are being tested.

According to the preliminary epidemiological investigation, the eight confirmed cases were actively discovered with low CT (cycle threshold) values. These individuals were highly infective with a high viral nucleic acid concentration.

Unidentified infection source 

In the 14 days before the onset of the disease, none of the eight patients had left Chongqing, and the source of the infection was not yet clear.

Xia Yu, an epidemiologist from the Chongqing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, pointed out that so far that beyond the eight confirmed cases, an additional positive case had been found in Chongqing in close proximity to the college. The search for the source is ongoing.

Chongqing people have been warned to take extra caution as the possibility of subsequent infections remains relatively high, and there is a risk of community transmission and outflow.

According to a proposal letter released by the Chongqing Center for Disease Control and Prevention this morning, if citizens receive a call from the center or a community transfer, they should take the initiative to cooperate through providing personal information truthfully and accurately and informing their whereabouts in detail.

Those who come to Chongqing from other provinces and cities and return to Chongqing should report to the community and units and carry out nucleic acid testing immediately.

Closed Management of related College

Responding to the confirmed cases, the Chongqing Municipal Health Commission has dispatched key experts, using a combination of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, and implementing diagnosis and treatment for each infected patient.

According to Chongqing Municipal Education Commission, closed management of Chongqing City Management College has been implemented and schools that are involved in the epidemic to strictly prevent the spread of the epidemic on campus.

Other measures involve fulfilling the epidemic prevention and control requirements in key places on campus, including school canteens, dormitories, classrooms, libraries, gyms, laboratories, and public toilets, maintaining a good condition in environmental disinfection ventilation, and sanitation.

Furthermore, the Chongqing passenger section of the high-speed rail has fully implemented epidemic prevention and control measures, according to the latest information released by the Chongqing Passenger Transport Section of China Railway Chengdu Bureau Group Co.

This involves enforcing the disinfection system of the departure, en route, and return stations and making every effort to ensure the safe travel of passengers.