Guangzhou steps up virus fight

City puts stricter controls in place as COVID-19 cases remain high

Guangzhou, Guangdong province, has further intensified its fight against COVID-19 as the number of infections remained high on Tuesday, a senior health official said on Wednesday.

In addition to Haizhu district, the epicenter of this COVID-19 outbreak in the city, stricter control measures have been implemented in the city's Liwan and Panyu districts, putting more communities and streets under closed-loop management, to help block the spread of the novel coronavirus at the community level starting on Wednesday, said Zhang Yi, deputy director of the Guangzhou health commission.

Residents in the controlled zones and in medium- and high-risk areas have been required not to go out unless absolutely necessary to limit the flow of people, Zhang said at a news conference on Wednesday.

Relevant departments will strengthen nucleic acid testing and screening in the districts where COVID-19 has hit hard in order to find infected people and block the transmission chains, said Zhang.

The operations of a large number of metro stations and bus stops have been suspended in the controlled zones as well as medium- and high-risk areas in Haizhu, Liwan, Panyu and Baiyun districts.

Zhang said Haizhu district is still the main battlefield in the city's fight against COVID-19, with new outbreak points having been reported in Liwan district on Tuesday.

She urged locals to actively cooperate with relevant departments to fight against the outbreak and strictly abide by the city's anti-COVID-19 policies and measures.

Guangzhou reported a total of 2,637 locally transmitted infections, including 2,546 asymptomatic carriers, on Tuesday. All have been sent to designated and makeshift hospitals for further medical observation and treatment.

Twenty of them were detected at the community level, indicating the transmission chains have not yet been completely blocked in the city, which has a population of about 18 million. A total of 2,442 infections were detected in Haizhu district.

Chen Xueming, deputy director of the Guangzhou Bureau of Education, said all primary and high schools and off-campus educational institutions have suspended in-person classes starting Thursday, except those in the city's Nansha, Conghua and Zengcheng districts.

Online classes have been recommended, he said.

The move aims to help avoid any outbreak on campuses, said Chen.