Guangzhou beefs up front-line defense

Concrete and effective measures are being taken to prevent an Ebola virus outbreak in Guangzhou, the Chinese city with the most flights to and from Africa, according to a senior city official.

Xie Xiaodan, deputy mayor of the Guangdong provincial capital, said the city, which has four direct flights to Africa and 14 connecting flights that reach the continent each week, has become a front-line region in the fight to prevent the deadly virus from entering China. More than 60 percent of Africans entering China arrive in Guangzhou.

"Now all people who arrive in Guangzhou from the Ebola-hit nations, including Chinese, will be given a bag containing a cellphone, a clinical thermometer, a gauze mask and an anti-Ebola handbook when they land at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport," Xie said on Friday.