Safety top priority at upcoming CIIE

With the third China International Import Expo set to begin in less than two weeks, organizers have beefed up preventive measures to ensure the safety of the event amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Participant Yeow Shuan, a businessman from New Zealand, arrived in Shanghai on Sunday, much earlier than the expo's running time from Nov 5 to 10.

According to the plan for COVID-19 prevention and control during the CIIE, which was issued by the Shanghai municipal government on Oct 12, all expo participants from overseas are required to submit health declarations, undergo temperature checks and tests as well as submit to 14-day quarantines at designated facilities.

For those who don't exhibit symptoms, two COVID-19 tests will be conducted on the fifth and 12th day of their quarantines, and participants will be able to attend the expo only if the two results are negative.

Domestic participants and expo staff and workers are also subject to testing. Health workers from Minhang district have set up a testing zone at the National Exhibition and Convention Center, the expo venue, and began testing on Wednesday.

The testing area is able to serve 4,000 to 5,000 people daily and return results on the same day, said the district health commission.

All those entering the expo venue for the first time need to present negative test results conducted within the past seven days, according to the plan.

Apart from participants, organizers will also boost inspection of exhibits, with a special focus on foods and beverages.

Zhang Zhunmin, a senior counsel with the municipal administration for market regulation, told The Paper that all imported frozen foods, as well as packaging and processing facilities, will be subject to COVID-19 testing.

On the logistics side, transport vehicles and food storage facilities will get fully sterilized as well, Zhang said.

CIIE officials said that sampling of uncooked fresh and raw foods, a popular activity in the expo's food and agricultural product exhibition in previous years, will not be allowed this year.

During the expo, mask wearing is mandatory for all attendees, and traffic controls will be enforced when necessary to ensure the number of people in the venue does not exceed 30 percent of its designed capacity.

The municipal health commission in September issued a guideline for epidemic prevention and control for all 1,151 hotels involved in the CIIE event.

The guideline requires hotel workers to complete a 14-day period of self-monitoring of body temperature prior to the expo, and wear masks and gloves when on duty.

It also requires international guests to provide negative test results of COVID-19 and domestic guests to provide health codes that show they haven't been to areas with high risk of exposure to the virus.

Hotels should also mandate that all people get temperature checks at entrances and set up temporary quarantine zones for emergency contingencies, said the guideline.