Two Covid-19 medical workers among new coronavirus cases in Guangzhou
- City counts 146 locally transmitted infections in latest outbreak but is now reopening several areas, including residential neighbourhoods and companies
- More than 90,000 students will have their high school entrance examinations postponed until July
Four new cases of infection were reported on Sunday, bringing the total to 146 cases of locally transmitted infections in this wave since May 21, including seven asymptomatic infections.
Chen Bin, from the Guangzhou Health Commission, said on Monday morning that all infected patients had been treated at the Guangzhou No 8 People’s Hospital.
Confirmed recent infections include a 27-year-old female technician in the pathology department and a 36-year-old male doctor in the hospital’s emergency department, a specialist facility for infectious diseases.
“The hospital has taken strict control measures, hospital staff were at the centralised hotels under closed management. The medical staff are tested every day and the results are negative – 373,668 tests from three surrounding streets are negative,” Chen said.
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She said the city was in a critical phase in its “decisive battle against the epidemic”, including determining which controlled areas would be unsealed, “to further implement accurate and scientific prevention and control”.
“Let’s continue to be confident and resolute in implementing measures to win the hard battle of epidemic prevention and control,” Chen said.
But elsewhere signs that the spread of Covid-19 may be easing have led the city to lift some restrictions.
Guangzhou has gradually reopened 11 places in Haizhu, Tianhe, Baiyun, Huangpu and Panyu districts, including residential neighbourhoods and companies. They were classified as closed and controlled management areas in early June. People could enter the neighbourhoods but were not permitted to leave, and gathering was strictly prohibited.
Chen said areas had to meet various conditions, including having no new for 14 consecutive days, for the restrictions to be eased.
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But the senior high school entrance examinations will still be postponed from June to July, with details released as soon as possible, Gu Zhongpeng, deputy head of Guangzhou Education Bureau said.
According to Gu, 90,544 candidates will sit the senior high school entrance examinations in Guangzhou this year, far exceeding the number who sat recent college entrance examinations.
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Zhao Wei, a public health professor at Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, said the infection of medical staff showed there was inadequate caution among some staff and that this time the virus was extremely infectious.
“In the short term, the prevention strategy in our country is successful, but in the long term, it is a question worth thinking about: how to adjust our strategy in the future,” Zhao said.
“How we carry out epidemic prevention after mass vaccination may depend on the observation of epidemics at home and abroad, especially using some data from foreign countries.”
