Source: Bloomberg; Global Times; Xinhua; The Straits Times; SCMP
Date: 10th April 2022
Shanghai and Guangzhou plan more mass tests as Covid Cases Rise. Shanghai adjusts the lockdown policy with some freedoms restored. Official warns new Guangzhou flare-up could be tip of the iceberg.
Shanghai announced another round of mass coronavirus testing, while the southern metropolis of Guangzhou said it will do the same for all 18 million residents, as authorities accelerate efforts to curb China’s worst outbreak since the early days of the pandemic.
Guangzhou launched citywide anti-COVID efforts on Saturday and vowed to secure supplies of daily necessities in the face of COVID-19 community transmission risks.
Guangzhou is taking all prevention and control measures including citywide nucleic acid testing to detect infected cases as soon as possible, the deputy director of Guangzhou’s health commission, said during a press conference.
Guangzhou will do everything possible to block the chain of transmission of COVID-19.
The city reported five local confirmed cases and five local asymptomatic infections on Friday. As of 8 am on Saturday, the city reported two new confirmed cases, according to the press conference briefing on Saturday.
All 11 districts in Guangzhou have issued notices for nucleic acid testing of all residents on Friday and Saturday.
COVID-19 community transmission may have occurred in the controlled areas in Guangzhou and may have spread to other areas, said Party secretary of Guangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, adding that the city is facing a more severe situation than when it was battling the Delta variant last May.
The population of the related area in Baiyun District is relatively large and the density is relatively high and people in this area move more frequently across regions. The Omicron variant strain is more contagious, the risk of subsequent spread of the epidemic is extremely high, and prevention and control are extremely difficult.
After the case in Baiyun district was first found in routine nucleic acid screening on Thursday, the local government has launched emergency responding mechanism. As of 9 am on Saturday, the district has finished testing 2.76 million people.
Guangzhou has announced the suspension of in-person classes at local primary and middle schools starting April 11 for COVID-19 control.
Colleagues in Logfret Guangzhou will be working from home today onward. For questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to our Logfret Asia Team – Loreal Lim and the team in Guangzhou.