Since the outbreak began last month, more than 11,000 COVID-19 cases, asymptomatic infections, and close contacts have been discharged from health facilities and released from medical monitoring in Shanghai, according to the municipal government's announcement on Sunday.
At a news conference, Wu Qianyu, a Shanghai Health Commission official, said, "Residential area bodies must guarantee that these recovered patients travel home without interruptions from fellow citizens and that they continue seven-day self-health supervision at home."
According to Wu Jinglei, the commission's director, no cases in Shanghai have proven that recovered victims can still spread the novel coronavirus.
He also stated that after healing from a COVID-19 disease, immune cells in the body produce antibodies that operate against the virus, according to research and clinical practice.
Based on the country's most recent guidelines, patients can be discharged from medical surveillance if the cycle thresholds of the N and ORF1ab genes are both 35 or higher or if they have come back negative in two consecutive nucleic acid tests at least 24 hours apart.
It further recommended that those who had recovered refrain from leaving the house, stay in a well-ventilated area away from their family, and avoid direct contact with them.
On April 3, the first COVID-19 recovered group from large-scale makeshift health facilities was released. On that day, more than 200 patients were freed from the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center's 7,000-bed ward.
Most moderate instances and asymptomatic infections, according to experts, can recover in seven to 10 days.
More than 160,000 beds have been built in more than 100 improvised facilities to accommodate moderate cases and asymptomatic infections.
On Saturday, the city registered a day high of 24,943 local COVID-19 infections, with 1,006 confirmed cases. In addition, for the third day in a row, the number of newly reported infections in the city has topped 20,000.
Shanghai entered its 10th day of a citywide lockdown to combat the country's worst COVID-19 outbreak yesterday.
Since March 28, areas east of the Huangpu River have been under quarantine. Shanghai began its newest round of citywide nucleic acid screening on Saturday, with results expected at the end of this week.
The city will monitor different locations according to their danger levels depending on the test results.
"At this time, we must rule out even the tiniest lapse in our efforts; we must continue to regulate personnel flow, limit the epidemic's progress, and reach zero new cases as quickly as feasible," Wu Qianyu stated.
