The southern Chinese province of Guangdong reinforced its front lines against the coronavirus as the number of cases continued to climb over the weekend. In scorching temperatures, public health workers covered in protective equipment ramped up screening for the pathogen, setting up testing stations in several cities across the Pearl River Delta. The national vaccination effort also gained momentum with 100 million shots administered in the last five days alone, pushing the country past the 600 million-dose mark. Containing the virus’s spread has become a top political priority for the province’s leaders in the countdown to the Communist Party’s centenary this year and a key session next year that could usher in a leadership reshuffle. Guangdong health authorities reported 13 new cases on Saturday – all of which were asymptomatic. Twelve of the cases were in Guangzhou and involved a strain of the virus first detected in India. The other patient was in Foshan. In Guangzhou, Chen Bin, deputy chief of the municipal health commission, said the city had reported five confirmed coronavirus cases and 21 other asymptomatic cases as of Sunday afternoon. On Sunday night, Shenzhen health authorities reported two new cases in the city, taking the city’s total to 13 since the outbreak began in May 21. The National Health Commission also said on Sunday night that cases reported earlier in Shenzhen had the same variant first found in Britain. While the numbers may be much lower than caseloads in other parts of the world, Guangdong’s response is a lesson for the rest of the country, which is under pressure to keep outbreaks under control before mass immunity is achieved. The cases also raise concerns for neighbouring Hong Kong about whether a possible reopening of the border with the mainland might be deferred. Underlining the priority on prevention, Guangdong party boss Li Xi and governor Ma Xingrui inspected vaccination and testing stations in Tianhe and Baiyun districts in Guangzhou as well as the city’s pandemic control command centre on Saturday, Southern Daily reported. They also called frontline staff in key hospitals and community outbreak prevention centres to assess containment measures. Screening for Covid-19 has expanded across Guangzhou, Foshan and Shenzhen. Provincial authorities also announced that residents in designated districts of Guangzhou, Foshan and Shenzhen would need to be screened within three days of notification to be able to use public venues or public transport. Covid-19 in China: parts of Guangzhou shut down as province battles latest outbreak Guangzhou health authorities have embarked on district-wide screenings in Liwan, Haizhu and Yuexiu since Wednesday. Parts of Tianhe, Baiyun and Panyu districts would also be targeted for screening to quickly sever viral transmission routes. Chen said an army of more than 10,000 workers was put together at the last minute to carry out the tests and more than 2.25 million tests had been carried out as of Saturday. The strain detected in the positive cases in Guangzhou had an identical DNA sequence to the strain that spread rapidly in India, he said. The risk alert for five communities in Liwan district was raised to medium while Hailong, another Liwan community, was listed as a key monitoring area. Judy Zhu, a 36-year-old Yuexiu resident, said malls and restaurants had become much quieter in the last few days and people were keen to get vaccinated. “For months, malls and restaurants have been letting people come and go without seriously taking their temperature. There weren’t many people wearing masks on the streets in the heat but it all changed in the past week,” Zhu said. “Free rice used to be offered to lure people getting vaccinated and there were plenty of choices shots to get. But there are so many people queuing to book vaccinations that the system crashes every day.” Coronavirus: Guangzhou residents queue for jabs after four cases reported In a temporary vaccine centre in Tianhe district, anywhere from 5,000 to 7,000 doses have been administered each day. The centre and others like it around the country have helped to boost the daily inoculation rate to 20 million doses. The mass campaign began on March 27 and it took 25 days for the nation to complete the first 100 million doses. More than 600 million shots were given by Friday, just five days after the mainland reached the 500 million mark. Respiratory disease specialist Zhong Nanshan told local media on Friday that China needed to inoculate 80 per cent of the country to reach herd immunity, a target it is expected to meet by the end of this year. China is on track to have 40 per cent of its people immunised by July. In Hong Kong, government pandemic adviser David Hui Shu-cheong said it would be safe to reopen the border with the mainland as long as there was no widespread community transmission. “The mainland is quick to do mass testing and lockdowns whenever there are Covid-19 cases. There is no need to worry if the patients are epidemiologically linked cases and confirmed in quarantine centres,” Hui said. Respiratory medicine specialist Leung Chi-chiu was more cautious, saying Hong Kong authorities and their mainland counterparts could begin discussions on reopening the border but should continue to monitor conditions. “Both Hong Kong and Guangdong need to have a stable epidemic situation before the border can be reopened, so we should wait a few more days for mass testing to be carried out on the mainland,” he said. “Officials should also set up an information sharing platform to facilitate contact tracing and enforcement measures if a Covid-19 patient is found.” Additional reporting by Gigi Choy
