Guangzhou Essentially Removes ALL Temporary Control Areas
By Lars James Hamer
Today, November 30, 2022, Guangdong province reported 8,006 new cases of COVID-19. Symptomatic cases accounted for 770 of the total number, whereas asymptomatic cases were 7,236.
The combined number of cases per city is as follows:
Guangzhou 6,995
Foshan 236
Shenzhen 199
Dongguan 142
Zhongshan 98
Zhanjiang 97
Jieyang 51
Huizhou 38
Qingyuan 35
Zhaoqing 33
Jiangmen 18
Zhuhai 11
Shantou 11
Shaoguan 11
Maoming 11
Shanwei 6
Chaozhou 4
Meizhou 4
Yangjiang 2
Yunfu 4
What Happened in Guangzhou Today?
Today, there were some strange goings-on in Guangzhou. Firstly, several districts closed nucleic acid testing sites.
Secondly, Guangzhou’s daily COVID-19 press conference was moved from 5pm to 3pm and confirmed the information listed below.
Shortly before the press conference started, Panyu and Liwan districts announced that “all temporary control areas for epidemic prevention and control will be lifted, and the preventive measures of ‘personal protection and avoid gathering’ will be implemented in low-risk areas.”
Tianhe district also announced that measures will be lifted in the temporary control areas of Yuancun Street, Changxing Street, Tangxia Street and Zhuji Street.
After the press conference, Haizhu and Baiyun districts announced they would also be removing all temporary control areas.
As of press time, Guangzhou’s remaining districts have not made such announcements, but we expect them to come soon.
In summary, the aforementioned subdistricts in Tianhe district and the entirety of Haizhu, Panyu, Liwan and Baiyun districts have removed all temporary control areas. However, low- and high-risk areas still remain.
There has been no official announcement as of yet on whether restaurants can reopen (that needs to come from the city's official hygiene department).
But wait, there’s more! Tianhe and Haizhu districts released the following five epidemic prevention and control measures in line with policies made by the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council.
Scientifically and accurately delineate risk areas. In principle, the residence of infected persons and areas with a high risk of epidemic transmission are designated as ‘high-risk areas,’ and high-risk areas should be confined to units and buildings and may not be expanded at will. High-risk areas that meet the conditions for opening should be opened in time and the greatest efforts should be made to reduce the inconvenience caused to people due to epidemic prevention and control.
Epidemic investigations shall be carried out in accordance with scientific and accurate principles and close contacts shall be determined in a timely and accurate manner. The screening areas shall not be expanded at will, nor shall time and space be used as a criterion for determining close contacts.
Implement centralized isolation observation for close contacts. Where possible allow close contacts to isolate at home.
Scientific development of nucleic acid testing. For risk areas, key personnel should carry out nucleic acid testing as required but shall not expand the area of nucleic acid testing and should not carry out mass nucleic acid tests by region.
Guangzhou will continue to encourage citizens to get vaccinated and to get booster shots, especially the elderly, and “store more COVID-related medicines.”
So, the question is, why? Well firstly, the lifting of temporary control areas and the five points mentioned above are in line with the new anti-epidemic measures made by the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council today on November 11.
READ MORE: 8 Things You Need to Know About China’s New COVID Rules
Another reason could be because the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee decided that the second plenary meeting of the 13th Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China will be held in Guangzhou on December 1 for one day.
In other good news, today the city’s new reported cases fell from 7,297 to 6,995, a decrease of 302. Symptomatic cases accounted for 541, whereas asymptomatic cases were 6,454.