101-year-old woman recovers from infection as Guangzhou continues to fight outbreak

A 101-year-old women infected with the novel coronavirus in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, has been discharged from hospital after treatment for six days at Guangdong Second Provincial General Hospital, according to sources with the hospital on Tuesday.

The woman, who had other symptoms including hypertension and diabetes, tested positive after developing a fever, cough and asthma on Nov 21.

The woman lives in Haizhu district, which is hardest hit in the latest outbreak. After testing positive, she was immediately sent to the intensive care unit of the hospital due to her age and her carrying symptoms of other diseases.

Her physical and mental condition improved significantly after two days of precise treatment, care and personalized diet with a drop in her body temperature, according to the hospital.

She was discharged from the hospital on Saturday after leaving the ICU for a cardiovascular medicine rehabilitation ward for further treatment.

As of Monday, 32,669 people infected with the novel coronavirus in the city have been discharged from medical facilities in this latest outbreak, according to the local health authority.

The city reported 7,279 new infections on Monday, of which 98 were found at community level, without infections in severe or critical .

In Haizhu district, there were 6,932 new infections on Monday, highly concentrated in the high-risk areas of Datang, Kanglu, Longtan and Jinzili, with an increase of sporadic cases also reported in Xingang and Ruibao sub-districts.

"The risk of virus transmission at community level is continuously at a high level in Tianhe and Panyu, as the number of new infections in both districts continued to grow," said Zhang Yi, deputy director and spokeswoman of the Guangzhou Health Commission.

In a news conference on Tuesday afternoon, Zhang said district governments across the city had strengthened prevention and control measures, including adjusting strategies in terms of nucleic acid tests, to minimize the mobility of people and reduce the risk of transmission.

In another development, local authorities have increased efforts to promote resumption of production and business operation outside controlled areas, according to Zhang Yongliang, deputy district head of Haizhu.

The overall recovery rate of enterprises in 28 key office buildings in the non-controlled Pazhou area has reached 51 percent, with the number of workers in key enterprises returning to work exceeding 2,000.

Inside the controlled areas, nine companies engaged in the manufacturing sector have applied for resumption of production based on closed-loop management.