Shanghai nursing homes bar entry to unvaccinated staff

ANKARA

Chinese authorities have barred unvaccinated staff from entering nursing homes in Shanghai, where millions are confined to their homes as the city battles a fresh COVID-19 outbreak, state-run media said on Friday.

Shanghai vice mayor Peng Chenlei told reporters that the local government will carry out COVID-19 testing in nursing homes across the city in order to protect the vulnerable.

"All staff in nursing homes are required to take a COVID-19 vaccine shot, those who can't take vaccines will be transferred to other positions and will not contact seniors directly," Global Times quoted Peng as saying.

The city government also banned visits to all nursing homes and barred the delivery of goods by non-staffers.

During the past 24 hours, Shanghai confirmed 3,200 COVID-19 cases, with 19,872 being asymptomatic, according to Peng.

Driven by the omicron variant, it has recorded over 250,000 cases since March 1. Earlier this month, authorities extended a lockdown and restrictions in Shanghai for an indefinite period and have been carrying out a citywide campaign to test its millions of residents.

* Writing by Islamuddin Sajid