Guangzhou pledges to meet medical needs amid COVID-19

The authorities of Guangzhou, Guangdong province have pledged to meet various medical care demands from residents as the COVID-19 control measures are optimised to be more precise and scientific.

A total of 1,323 general nucleic acid test sampling spots, 297 sampling spots for people with a yellow health code and 87 24-hour sampling spots are in place across the city on Friday, said Zhang Yi, deputy director of Guangzhou Health Commission, at a news conference on Friday.

Out-patients can enter hospitals with a green health codes and new in-patients and their companions are required to present a negative nucleic acid test result within 24 hours to enter hospitals in the city.

All qualified fever clinics are required to open, with the staff at those clinics strengthened.

Medical resource reserves are planned, including designated hospitals and makeshift hospitals for admitting infected people.

These hospitals in the city have nearly 90,000 beds and more than 2,000 ICU beds.

Guangzhou has reported about 162,700 infection cases in the ongoing outbreak, with asymptomatic carriers accounting for about 90 percent of them. Only four patients suffer severe or critical conditions, with no death cases.

This indicates significantly lower pathogenicity of the current Omicron subvariant of the virus, Zhang said.

As COVID-19 control measures are adjusted in the city, the demand for related medicines have surged.

On Thursday, 100,000 records of sale of flu and fever medicines were booked at retail pharmacies in the city, which was 2.5 times the amount in a normal day, said Ding Li, deputy director of the Guangzhou Administration for Market Regulation.

The authorities have contacted wholesale and retail medicine companies in the city for greater procurement and coordinated medicine and medical device producing companies in the city for reasonably greater supply.

The city's daily capacity of producing antigen test kits stands at 10.5 million units.

The authorities are scrutinising the quality and prices of medicines, Ding said, also reminding the public of safe use of medicines and expiration of medicines.