Guangzhou reacts to continuing spike in virus cases with more medical resources

More makeshift hospitals are being built in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, to boost its treatment capacity for COVID-19 infections, according to a local health official.

Medical resources at all levels will be optimized and put into operation as the number of new infections increases significantly across the city, said Zhang Yi, deputy director of the Guangzhou Health Commission.

At a news conference on Tuesday afternoon, Zhang said the treatment capacity in makeshift hospitals would be expanded as soon as possible, with a mechanism for transferring infected people also being optimized.

As of Monday, the city has opened six makeshift hospitals, providing more than 20,000 treatment beds mainly for asymptomatic carriers, according to Zhang.

A package of daily necessities including toiletries, earplugs and eye masks is provided for each person being treated in makeshift hospitals, according to Zhang.

Guangzhou reported its highest number of infections for a single day on Monday in the past three years, with 147 locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases and 4,977 asymptomatic carriers, according to the local health authority.

There have been no reports of infected people in serious or critical condition since the latest wave of COVID-19 in the city began on Oct 22, according to Zhang.

Up to 94.8 percent of new infections on Monday had been found in the city's Haizhu district, mainly concentrated in the Kanglu area of Fengyang subdistrict.

Of the new infections on Monday, 30 were detected during nucleic acid testing in communities or in clinics.

"More efforts will be concentrated to tackle the epidemic situation in Haizhu, with rapid screening and transferring of newly infected people," said Zhang, adding medical staff will be sent to take samples door-to-door in high-risk areas to detect infections as early as possible.

According to Fu Xiaochu, deputy district head of Haizhu, more than 2,400 medical workers were organized to take door-to-door nucleic acid samples in the district's high-risk areas on Tuesday.

Beijing's Chaoyang district, the hardest-hit area in the capital, has increased the number of its regular testing sites and extended operating hours to address the increasing requirement for nucleic acid tests.

Chaoyang has 1,854 testing sites and 2,913 channels for the public to take the tests for free. Both numbers are 30 more than the previous day, said Yang Beibei, deputy head of the district government, at a news conference on Tuesday.

"Testing sites in residential communities will open as early as 6:30 in the morning, in order to provide services for people who go to work early," she said.

Chaoyang reported 69 new local infections between midnight and 3 pm Tuesday, out of the city's 170 new local cases, among whom 20 were detected at the community level, according to the local health commission.

Li Hongbing, deputy head of the city's civil affairs bureau, said on Tuesday, that all nursing homes in the city had implemented the highest level of epidemic control and prevention for emergencies by Nov 7, in an attempt to protect the safety and health of the elderly.

Beijing has 571 nursing homes that house 46,300 seniors, according to the bureau.

"The average age of those seniors is above 80, which means this group of people face a bigger threat during epidemic outbreaks," Li said.

In Chongqing, 157 new local confirmed COVID-19 cases and 2,794 new asymptomatic carriers were recorded on Monday, according to the local health commission.

Except for areas listed as having a high risk of infection in central urban districts, other central urban areas will carry out nucleic acid testing once every two days starting on Tuesday.

According to Chongqing Daily, a makeshift hospital with more than 12,000 beds is under construction at the city's Yuelai International Exhibition Center, and will be put into use later.

The Chinese mainland on Monday reported 1,621 locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases and 16,151 local asymptomatic carriers, the National Health Commission said Tuesday.

Deng Rui and Tan Yingzi in Chongqing and Duan Ling in Beijing contributed to this story.