Dongguan launches citywide testing
Print Edition
The manufacturing hub of Dongguan in China’s most populous province Guangdong launched mass coronavirus testing yesterday and cordoned off communities, after the city detected its first infections of a flare-up in the province.
The Delta variant of COVID-19 has dominated infections in the provincial upsurge, the first time it has hit China. Said to be highly transmissible, the variant was first identified in India.
Dongguan, with a population of over 10 million, launched its citywide testing program following two cases reported since Friday.
City authorities told residents not to leave the city, except for essential reasons. Those leaving must show negative test results within 48 hours of departure.
A few entrances on highways to other cities were closed, while all shuttle buses linking airports in other cities and check-in terminals in Dongguan were halted. Some museums and libraries in the city also closed to visitors. Its factories are still running, however.
“(Workers) need to do COVID tests, but it’s not a prerequisite for them to be able to enter factories,” said King Lau, who helps manage a metal coating factory.
“My staff will do (their COVID tests) after work, although there will be long queues.”
Guangdong has reported 168 confirmed infections since May 21, with nearly 90 percent of them in its capital, Guangzhou.
The cases are few compared with the rest of the world and previous outbreaks in China. But Guangdong, a key entry point for travelers and cargo, is not taking any chances. Although its capital has reported no cases for two successive days, the province as a whole is still detecting new infections.
Chinese experts said Guangzhou’s fight against the Delta variant served as a warning to other cities against complacency.
China’s mainland reported 17 new confirmed infections on June 20, down from 23 a day earlier, its health authority said yesterday, adding that one of the new cases was a local infection in Dongguan, while the rest were imported.
“All our workers were asked to complete their testing yesterday, and the results were all fine,” said the owner of an electronics plant in Dongguan.
The province has sped up its vaccination effort since the outbreak. By May 19, before any local cases were reported, the province of 126 million people had administered 39.15 million doses. By June 20, the figure was 101.12 million, meaning more than 60 percent of its doses were injected over one month.
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