Guangzhou to mobilize more resources for epidemic containment

Reserved medical resources including designated hospitals and fangcang, or makeshift hospitals, will be used in due time in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, for the treatment of COVID-19 infections, according to a local health official.

"We will expand the capacity of medical treatment for infections by ensuring reserved medical resources and emergency forces can be used at any time," Zhang Yi, spokeswoman of the Guangzhou Health Commission, said at a news conference on Friday afternoon.

Reserved and makeshift hospitals, which will be launched in due time, are designated to treat patients with mild symptoms and asymptomatic carriers.

Currently, COVID-19 patients with common, severe and critical conditions are sent to the designated Guangzhou Eighth People's Hospital for treatment.

On Thursday, the city reported 572 new COVID-19 infections, of which most were found in quarantine and high-risk areas, according to the local health commission.

Hardest-hit Haizhu district reported 433 new infections on Thursday alone, according to the authority.

The number of new infections in the high-risk Guitian area were reduced significantly. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has been still developing in high-risk areas in subdistricts of Fengyang, Jianghai and Huazhou.

Sporadic infections were also reported in subdistricts of Luopu, Dashi and Zhongcun of Panyu district, posing a risk of local transmission in communities, Zhang added.

The city's Haizhu district issued a notice on Friday morning vowing to strengthen prevention and control against the COVID-19 pandemic in medium- and high-risk and temporary closed-loop management areas.

"We have constantly optimized and adjusted the prevention and control measures as the number of newly infected people is still at a high level," said Fu Xiaochu, executive deputy head of Haizhu.

According to Fu, new infections were mostly reported in closed-loop management areas, which are densely populated, with narrow spaces and poor ventilation.

Additionally, there were still sporadic infections being reported outside closed-loop management areas in the district, according to Fu.

To stop the epidemic transmission chain as soon as possible, local authorities have continued to transfer infected people and residents at risk to other areas in the past several days.