Coronavirus: mass testing in Dongguan as China tries to keep lid on cases

Delta variant dominates infections in latest outbreak, the first time it has hit the country
Strict disinfection and quarantine measures lead to congestion of vessels waiting to berth at one of the busiest Chinese container ports

Coronavirus pandemic

Reuters

Published: 2:30pm, 21 Jun 2021

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The major manufacturing hub of Dongguan in China’s most populous province of Guangdong launched mass testing on Monday for the coronavirus and cordoned off communities after detecting its first infections in the current outbreak.

The Delta variant of Covid-19 has dominated infections in the provincial upsurge, the first time it has hit China. Seen by experts as highly transmissible, the variant was first identified in India.

Dongguan launched a citywide testing programme on Monday, following two cases reported since Friday. City authorities told residents not to leave, except for essential reasons.

Even then, those leaving must show negative test results within 48 hours of departure.

The southern province of Guangdong has reported 168 confirmed infections since May 21, with nearly 90 per cent of them in its capital, Guangzhou.

But the cases are few compared with the rest of the world and previous outbreaks in China.

The northeastern region had more than 1,150 infections from late December to early February for the worst domestic outbreak after that in the central city of Wuhan, where the virus emerged in late 2019.

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But Guangdong, a key entry point for travellers and cargo, has not taken any chances. Although its capital has reported no cases for two successive days, the province as a whole is still reporting new infections in the 31-day outbreak.

Strict disinfection and quarantine measures since May 21 have led to congestion of vessels waiting to berth in one of China’s busiest container ports, Yantian International Container Terminal in Shenzhen.

“The impact would be bigger than the Suez Canal incident,” said Patrik Berglund, chief executive of Xeneta, an ocean freight rate benchmarking firm headquartered in Oslo.

Although 50 vessels were waiting outside the port, more than 160 were affected, he said.

“We’ve seen exporters who cannot wait for the port congestion to ease turning to trucks to send the cargoes from China to Europe.”

Normal operations are expected to resume by the end of this month.

But even as congestion at Yantian eases, traffic at the Shenzhen port of Shekou and the main Guangzhou port of Nansha remains high, shipping firm Maersk reported.

Chinese experts said Guangzhou’s fight against the Delta variant served as a warning for other cities not to become too complacent.

China reported 17 new confirmed mainland infections on Sunday, down from 23 a day earlier, its health authority said on Monday, adding that one of the new cases was a local infection in Dongguan, while the rest were imported.

“All our workers were asked to complete their testing yesterday and the results were all fine,” said the owner of an electronics plant in Dongguan.

“We’ve all been given the second shot of the vaccine,” said the factory owner, surnamed Wang.

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Guangdong has sped up its vaccination effort since the latest outbreak began. By May 19, before any local cases were reported, it had administered 39.15 million doses.

By June 20, the figure was 101.12 million, meaning more than 60 per cent of its doses were injected over one month.