China’s Shenzhen will stand strong against the coronavirus, hospital chief says
- As neighbouring Hong Kong battles surge, Shenzhen prepared to withstand infections, Liu Lei says
- Genome sequencing points to Omicron in 70 cases so far
Liu Lei, Communist Party secretary of Shenzhen No 3 People’s Hospital, the city’s only hospital designated for treating Coivd-19 patients, said on Friday that the city’s prevention and control system had been strengthened, giving residents “a strong sense of security”.
“Our emergency hospital area has 1,008 negative pressure beds. The treatment capacity in Shenzhen has improved in a very clear way,” Liu was quoted by local news sources as saying.
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The National Health Commission said on Saturday that China recorded 93 new local cases, ranging from Inner Mongolia in the north to Guangdong in the south.
It said 15 provinces reported new cases in the past week, requiring quick and decisive measures.
“The outbreaks happened in numerous cities and involved both Delta and Omicron variants,” said Wu Liangyou, an official in charge of epidemic control with the commission.
“Our experience showed the current measures worked well against the Omicron. The commission will guide the areas with outbreaks to speed up testing and contact tracing to isolate risky people in time to ensure the overall stability of the epidemic situation.”
Also on Saturday, Shenzhen authorities said the city had 18 new coronavirus infections, half of them among people yet to show symptoms.