Coronavirus: Chinese manufacturing hub Dongguan reports more new local cases

Another six locally acquired infections have been found and a mass testing drive is under way in the city of 10.5 million

In nearby Guangzhou, authorities have confirmed an infected driver has the Delta strain and is not linked to an imported Omicron case

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Millions of residents have been told to get tested for Covid-19 in Dongguan, Guangdong province. Photo: Weibo

Published: 4:58pm, 16 Dec 2021Updated: 5:51pm, 16 Dec 2021

China’s southern province of Guangdong on Thursday reported six local Covid-19 cases in Dongguan, a manufacturing city where millions of residents have been told to get tested.

Three of the infections were close contacts of other cases, two were previously identified asymptomatic cases, and one was in a group being monitored, according to health authorities.

A mass testing drive was launched in the city of 10.5 million people on Wednesday after four locally acquired cases were identified. Local authorities said the first two cases were traced to Delta variant infections in another Chinese province.

A health official in Guangdong said the case numbers in Dongguan were “in line with the health authority’s estimation based on previous outbreaks”.

“But it is too early to say that we’re safe. More rounds of testing need to be done in both Dongguan and Guangzhou,” said the official, who requested anonymity. “All doctors and nurses in Guangdong have been mobilised, or they’re on standby.”

Provincial capital Guangzhou reported its first imported case of the highly mutated Omicron variant on Tuesday, and a worker who had been transporting incoming travellers tested positive for Covid-19 without symptoms on Wednesday.