Guangzhou continues to combat infection wave

The risk of transmission of the COVID-19 pandemic at the community level in Guangzhou still exists following more new infections being reported over the weekend, according to the local health authority.

"In addition to concentrated cases being reported in the hardest-hit Haizhu district, there were also sporadic cases being found in the districts of Baiyun, Panyu and Liwan, posing risks of further spread of the virus at the community level," said Zhang Yi, spokeswoman of the Guangzhou Health Commission.

The city reported the highest level of new infections in a single day on Sunday, with 122 new locally transmitted confirmed cases and 1813 asymptomatic carriers.

Zhang said early on Sunday the city has been experiencing the most complex and severe COVID-19 prevention and control situation in three years.

Of the infections, most were detected in quarantine sites and closed-loop management areas, with only eight being found during nucleic acid tests in local communities.

All infections have been sent to designated hospitals or makeshift hospitals for treatment without reports of cases in critical conditions.

The number of new infections reported in Haizhu accounted for 94 percent of the city's total in the last three days, reaching 1,880 in a single day on Sunday.

New infections were mostly concentrated in the Kanglu area of Fengyang subdistrict and Kecun and Datang areas of Chigang subdistricts, which are densely populated, with narrow spaces and poor ventilation.

"The district of Haizhu remained the main battlefield in prevention and control against the latest round of the COVID-19 pandemic," Zhang said during a press conference on Monday afternoon.

Local authorities have strengthened efforts in screening of new infections, already organizing 2,500 medical workers to high-risk areas to conduct door-to-door nucleic acid tests in Haizhu.

Moreover, operation of reserved hotels for quarantine of people from high-risk areas have also been launched, with 34,000 people having been transferred to other cities for quarantine.

Given an increased number of new infections in Haizhu over the past few days, a strict policy issued by the district authority earlier before the weekend will be extended until Friday.

All public transportation was suspended in Haizhu and residents living in the district are required to stay at home, except those seeking medical help or needing to be tested for the virus, according to the policy.

"The flow of people and vehicles has decreased significantly over the weekend, helping to curb the spread of the epidemic transmission to a certain extent," said Fu Xiaochu, executive deputy head of Haizhu.

"However, there were still several sporadic cases being found in community level, indicating that the risk of epidemic transmission is still high," he said.