Guangzhou heightens anti-virus measures as cases increase

Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, has further increased its measures to fight the coronavirus after two subdistricts in the city's Liwan district were elevated from medium-risk to high-risk areas on Wednesday.

No residents in the subdistricts of Baihedong and Zhongnan are allowed to leave or enter the two areas, as COVID-19 cases and asymptomatic carriers detected in the subdistricts continued to rise on Wednesday.

Staff from communities and property management companies have begun to help purchase and distribute food and daily necessities for the residents after their housing estates have been closed for stricter management.

The move aims to block the infection chain of the coronavirus, said Liu Chengyong, deputy director of Guangzhou City Health Commission, at a news conference on Wednesday.

All passengers taking the city's public buses and metro trains are now required to show their green health codes and have their body temperature measured before they are allowed to board the city's buses and trains starting Wednesday, to help prevent and control the spread of the coronavirus in the southern metropolis.

All ferry services in the city proper have been suspended, according to a statement released by the city's transportation department on Wednesday.

According to Liu, Guangzhou reported seven confirmed COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, plus five asymptomatic carriers.

Lei Chunliang, president of Guangzhou No. Eight People's Hopsital, said on Wednesday the city's first confirmed COVID-19 case, a local 75-year-old woman surnamed Guo, is now in good condition after weeks of treatment. She will soon be discharged from hospital, Lei said.

Guo, who lives in Liwan district, was found to be a confirmed case on May 21, and medical experts later diagnosed she had contracted the Delta strain, first detected in India.