Two medical staff in Guangzhou, South China’s Guangdong Province have been infected with COVID-19 as the city continues to combat a coronavirus resurgence, Guangzhou Municipal Health Commission announced on Sunday night.
The infections were likely to have been caused by accidental exposure, according to gene sequencing and preliminary investigations. Local authorities said a further investigation is underway to determine the specific reason.
The cases were found during regular nucleic acid testing among medical staff in the Guangzhou No.8 People’s Hospital, which is the designated hospital for treating COVID-19 patients amid the city’s latest resurgence.
The authority said that medical personnel from other hospitals have been stationed in the hospital to ensure smooth clinical treatment, and diagnosis and treatment there is proceeding as usual.
Medical staff at the hospital are living in a hotel under closed management and results of their daily nucleic acid testing have all returned negative.
The two people, one a technician at the pathology department and the other a physician in the emergency department, are currently in stable condition. Their close contacts have been put under quarantine, and all have returned negative nucleic acid testing results.
Guangzhou reported four new cases over the past 24 hours, all of which were found during screening of close contacts at quarantine hotels, The city’s health authority announced on Monday. From May 21 to Sunday, the city reported a total of 146 cases of domestically transmitted infections, including 139 confirmed cases and seven asymptomatic cases.
People have their information registered before COVID-19 nucleic acid testing in Liwan District of Guangzhou, south China’s Guangdong Province, June 8, 2021. A new round of mass testing in high-risk areas of Baihedong Street and Zhongnan Street in Guangzhou started on Tuesday.(Photo: Xinhua)
