Guangdong expands virus testing to help find suspected cases

All residents in the districts of Baiyun and Panyu in Guangzhou city, Guangdong province, have been required to take nucleic acid tests starting Friday to help detect suspected COVID-19 patients and asymptomatic carriers, according to notices released by the two district governments on Friday.

And Yuexiu district has also started its second round of nucleic acid tests for all the residents between Friday and Sunday, while residents in the medium- and high-risk areas in Liwan district where the city's first confirmed case was detected on May 21, have been asked to take multiple rounds of nucleic acid tests in the previous weeks.

The larger scale of the nucleic acid test campaign in Guangzhou's districts aims to prevent and control the coronavirus from spreading further in the southern metropolis when the number of COVID-19 patients and asymptomatic carriers detected in the city continues to grow, the city's health authority said on Friday.

According to statistics released by the Guangdong Provincial Health Commission on Friday, Guangdong province reported seven new confirmed locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, including six detected in Guangzhou and one in Foshan, on Thursday.

Guangzhou also reported another two confirmed cases from those previously identified as local asymptomatic carriers on Thursday.

And Guangzhou also detected another local symptomatic carrier on Thursday, the provincial health commission said.

As the end of Thursday, Guangdong has reported a total of 2,509 confirmed cases, including 1,042 imported ones, and a total of 113 patients are still in wards for treatment, said the provincial health commission.

To fight against the coronavirus, all restaurants in Haizhu and Panyu districts and those in targeted streets in Yuexiu district have been required to offer only takeout services starting Friday.

The Panyu district government clearly stipulates on-site dining has been banned in the district for two weeks beginning Friday.