China dispatches working group to Guangxi for COVID-19 response

BEIJING — Health authorities in China have sent a working group to the southern Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region to guide COVID-19 response following a recent resurgence of infections.

The working group will oversee prompt implementation of nucleic acid testing, epidemiological investigation and contact tracing to contain the epidemic in the region, He Qinghua, an official with the disease control department of the National Health Commission (NHC), told a press conference on Feb 8.

Guangxi reported 64 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, all in the city of Baise, on Feb 7, according to the regional health commission.

Guangxi has logged 108 locally-transmitted confirmed cases and four local asymptomatic infections in the latest resurgence of COVID-19, the regional health commission said on Feb 8, adding that a total of 815 close contacts are currently under medical observation.

The NHC official said that Baise is witnessing a rapid rise in COVID-19 infections. With over 80 percent of the cases in the outbreak living in the same village, risks of further spread of the epidemic remain high due to multiple factors such as hidden community transmission and higher mobility of people during the Chinese New Year holiday, He noted.