Guangzhou COVID outbreak enters final stage

The latest COVID-19 outbreak has entered its final stage in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, with the emergency department and fever clinics of medical institutions operating primarily at their normal level.

The dominant virus strain remained BA.5.2, with no XBB strain found among locally-infected people, said Zhang Yi, deputy director of the Guangzhou health commission, at a news conference on Wednesday.

Since the COVID-19 management was downgraded from Class A to Class B in the country on January 8, the health commission has been working with the customs, market regulation and agricultural institutions, among others, to monitor both the imported and local infections.

The monitoring has included that on symptoms, etiology, virus mutation, people's antibody level, sewage and sale of medicines to analyze the infection situation and epidemic trend.

During the Spring Festival holiday, the emergency medical call command system of the city would run round-the-clock, with at least 200 ambulances deployed for service every day.

The fever clinic and emergency department of 188 major medical institutions would serve 24 hours a day. Multi-department expert teams and teams for handling severe cases would stand ready to treat patients.

Grassroots medical institutions in the city have been equipped with 14,142 blood oxygen meters, a batch of oxygen generators, and fever and cough medicine. The medicine is sufficient to sustain more than two weeks' of need.

The 281 medical service hotlines and grassroots medical institutions will continue to provide services during the holiday, Zhang said.