Chongqing's COVID-19 epidemic still dire

The coronavirus epidemic in Chongqing should be contained as soon as possible in a scientific, precise and timely manner, with cohesive prevention and control measures coordinating all forces and materials, said Chinese Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan during an inspection of the city from Friday to Saturday, Chongqing Daily reported.

On Saturday, Chongqing reported 194 newly confirmed local cases and 8,667 new asymptomatic carriers, a new record high since the local epidemic outbreak on Nov 1, according to figures released by the municipal health commission. 

"The epidemic situation is still grave and complex," said deputy director of the Chongqing Health Commission Li Pan at a news conference on Saturday night.

On Friday, the city reported 7,659 new cases — an increased of 1,281 cases compared to that on Thursday. The figure rebounded to the same level on Wednesday, Li said. 

A COVID-19 related death was reported on Sunday in the city.

The 91-year-old male patient was transferred to Chongqing Public Heath Medical Center in Shapingba district from Yuzhong district on Wednesday. The patient, who had consciousness disorder, severe pneumonia, septic shock and multiple organ failure when entering the hospital, was diagnosed as critically ill. The condition of the patient deteriorated afterwards with decreasing heart rate and blood pressure, and died despite emergency treatment including cardiopulmonary resuscitation failure.

To carry out precise epidemic prevention and control work, the central city's Yuzhong, Jiulongpo, Jiangbei and Yubei districts conducted nucleic acid testing for three consecutive days starting on Saturday, according to the conference.