Guangzhou reports 5,124 new COVID-19 cases

On the afternoon of November 15, Guangzhou held a COVID-19 Prevention and Control Press Conference to brief the latest epidemic situation in the city.

On November 14, Guangzhou reported 5,124 locally acquired COVID-19 cases, among which 30 were found in communities and the remaining 99% were found among people under centralized quarantine and in PCR testing in high-risk and closed-loop management areas. 94.8% of the newly infected were found in Haizhu District, most of which were still in Kangle-Lujiang Area of Fengyang Subdistrict.

Zhang Yi, Deputy Director and Spokesperson of the Guangzhou Health Commission, said that in light of the current situation, Guangzhou is pooling resources to fight the uphill battle in Haizhu District. Due to the rapid growth of infections, Guangzhou is pushing for the construction of shelter hospitals, putting into use one after another upon completion and expanding the capacity to accommodate more patients rapidly. By November 14, six shelter hospitals staffed with 4,000 medical personnel had been opened, providing more than 20,000 beds mainly for the isolation and observation of asymptomatic infections. Each patient would receive a caring package of daily necessities, including toiletries, earplugs and eye masks. Extra care services would be provided for the elderly, pregnant women and children.

Zhang Yi introduced that since this round of the epidemic broke out on October 22, the situation of all infected persons has been stable, and there is no serious or dangerous case.

Fu Xiaochu, Member of the Standing Committee of the Haizhu District Committee and the Executive Deputy Head of Haizhu District, introduced that, based on the requirements of "lifting lockdown when no new cases are found", some areas in Houjiao and Guitian were adjusted to low-risk areas from 24:00 on November 14, and temporary restriction measures were lifted in some areas of six subdistricts including Chigang Subdistrict, Ruibao Subdistrict and Jianghai Subdistrict.

Fu Xiaochu introduced that Haizhu District has made every effort to guarantee supplies of goods in the controlled areas: it has synthesized online shopping and rapid delivery, distributed free packages of daily necessities to key controlled areas, optimized the distribution of delivery riders and cracked the difficulties of last mile delivery. 1.022 million packages of daily necessities with a total weight of 3,021 tons were distributed. On November 15, more than 2,400 medical staff conducted door-to-door sampling for residents in high-risk areas, ensuring quick and thorough PCR tests. The district has continued to take traditional Chinese medicine as additional preventive measures, and distributed 681,200 doses in total. 47 temporary medical stations were set up in the controlled areas, and 266 medical staff were on duty 24 hours a day to provide medical services. A total of 55,804 medical services have been provided, sending 2,469 patients for outpatient service and 285 for inpatient service, and helping 67 pregnant women to successfully deliver.

Fu Xiaochu introduced that since October 23, the government official hotline 12345  has handled a total of 77,705 cases, including 64,621 epidemic related ones. For the problems reported by residents, the responsible institutions were urged to take the initiative to claim them and solve them in a timely, efficient and high-quality manner.

Guo Huan, Member of the Standing Committee of the Yuexiu District Committee and Executive Deputy Head of Yuexiu District, introduced that in order to curb the epidemic at an early date, the district has made a deliberate decision to strengthen  prevention and control measures in the areas west of Jiefang Road and north of Guangzhou-Shenzhen Railway in Yuexiu District several days ago. Residents in the 12 areas where new cases were found were subject to home quarantine and necessary services and goods were delivered to their doorsteps. In these areas, daily door-to-door PCR tests were arranged and daily necessities delivered. As of November 14, 68,305 orders for daily necessities were delivered. Information and special needs were noted down for 312 elderly, weak, sick, disabled and pregnant people, and special personnel were arranged to follow up and provide extra care services.

Controlled areas in Yuexiu District

Pang Hongyao, Level-2 Counsel and Spokesperson of Guangzhou Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau, introduced that Guangzhou has taken a series of measures to ensure services for people in special difficulties and mobilize social resources to participate in epidemic response. A thorough investigation of children in infected families has been conducted. For uninfected children left unattended due to the infection of their guardians, protection institutions of minors will step in and help. As of the end of October, a total of 640 million yuan of various relief funds were distributed. As of November 15, a donation of more than 26 million yuan was received from enterprises and individuals.

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