Sailun Dongying factory finds Covid-19, but deemed low risk

In order to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus, China has divided the entire country into two areas: high-risk areas and low-risk areas. When the Covid-19 infection is found in a particular place, the government labels it as a “high risk” area and implements stricter epidemic prevention policies. On 4 December 2022, the Sailun Dongying factory was listed as a high-risk area. A day later, on 5 December the local authority adjusted the tyre factory to a low-risk area.

A person familiar with the matter told Tyrepress that someone infected with Covid-19 was found in the Sailun Dongying factory, so it was classified as a high-risk area. At the time of going to press, Sailun did not disclose the specifics of the incident, including the number of infected cases and whether production was affected.

On 11 November, the Chinese government issued “Twenty Measures” to prevent and control the COVID-19 epidemic. The document’s content shows: “In principle, the places where infected people live, as well as areas such as workplaces and activity places with frequent activities and a high risk of epidemic transmission, are designated as high-risk areas. High-risk areas are generally buildings which cannot be expanded arbitrarily. If no new infection is found in the high-risk area for five consecutive days, it will be reduced to a low-risk area. High-risk areas that meet the conditions for unblocking should be unblocked on time.”

Judging by the requirements of the “Twenty Measures”, two issues need to be pondered relating to the transformation of the Sailun Dongying tyre factory from a low-risk area to a high-risk area and then to a low-risk area. The first question is why the entire factory was classified as high-risk. The second is why it took only one day for a high risk to become a low risk, namely Sunday 4 December. According to the “Twenty Measures”, a high-risk area can only be reduced to a low-risk area if no new infections are found for five consecutive days.