Guangzhou tightens control in wake of new COVID-19 cases

A medical worker verifies information of residents before nucleic acid testing in Liwan district of Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong province, May 26, 2021. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

BEIJING/MACAO/GUANGZHOU – The southern Chinese city of Guangzhou has tightened anti-epidemic measures in parts of the city to curb the recent COVID-19 resurgence, local authorities said Tuesday.

Closed-off management has been implemented in the Zhongnan subdistrict as well as 37 other locations and their surroundings

The city has implemented closed-off management in the Zhongnan subdistrict as well as 37 other locations and their surroundings. People in these areas must follow strict quarantine measures and stay indoors.

Strict management has also been enforced on some key areas where the infected patients had visited. Gatherings have been banned and people are forbidden from leaving these areas.

In other parts of the city, residents are required to show health codes when taking public transport or entering public venues.

The control measures will be adjusted, downgraded, or lifted according to the epidemic risk assessment of these areas.

Mainland reports 11 local cases in Guangzhou

The Chinese mainland on Monday reported 11 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in Guangdong province, all of which were posted in Guangzhou, the National Health Commission and provincial health commission said Tuesday.

The mainland on Monday also reported 12 new imported cases, the National Health Commission said

The same day also saw 12 new imported cases on the mainland. Of them, seven were reported in Shanghai, two each in Guangdong and Sichuan, and one in Jiangsu.

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One new suspected case arriving from outside the mainland was posted in Inner Mongolia, bringing the total number of suspected cases to two, the comission said. 

No additional deaths related to COVID-19 were reported, it said, adding that there were 337 patients still receiving treatment, six of whom were in severe condition.

By Monday, the mainland had reported a total of 91,122 confirmed cases, 86,149 recoveries and 4,636 deaths. A total of 6,063 imported cases had been reported with no deaths.

Also on Monday, 15 new asymptomatic cases were reported, 13 of which arrived from outside the mainland. 

A circuit breaker which will see curbs being imposed on cross-border personnel flow will be enforced in the Macao SAR if local cases are reported, Ao Ieong-u, secretary for social affairs and culture of Macao, said

By the end of Monday, 11,841 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 210 deaths, had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), while 51 cases had been reported in the Macao SAR, and 8,511 cases, including 124 deaths, had been reported in Taiwan.

A total of 11,572 COVID-19 patients in the Hong Kong SAR had been discharged from hospitals following recovery, 49 in the Macao SAR, and 1,133 in Taiwan.

Macao to enforce circuit breaker if local cases reported

The Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) will enforce a circuit breaker if locally-transmitted COVID-19 cases are reported, an SAR government official said on Monday.

Ao Ieong-u, secretary for social affairs and culture of Macao, made the remarks at a press conference, following the recent reports of COVID-19 cases in Guangdong, which borders Macao.

A circuit breaker means restrictions will be imposed on cross-border personnel flow, according to Ao.

The official called on Macao residents to avoid traveling to epidemic-struck regions unless under urgent or necessary circumstances.

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She also called on more local residents to be inoculated in order to help build up community immunity as soon as possible.

Starting from Monday, patients with fevers of unknown reasons will have to take nucleic acid tests at three major local hospitals if they seek medical help there, said Lo Iek-long, director of the Macao Health Bureau.

As of Monday, no locally-transmitted COVID-19 cases had been reported in Macao for consecutive 428 days.