Guangdong reports 20 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases

Guangdong Province registered 20 new locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases on Sunday, of which 16 were previously asymptomatic cases, the provincial health commission said on Monday.

Eighteen of the confirmed cases were reported in the provincial capital city of Guangzhou and the other two in the city of Foshan.

Three new locally asymptomatic cases were also reported. Also, three imported confirmed cases and three imported asymptomatic cases were registered on Sunday.

Of the 27 new coronavirus cases reported by the national health authority in its daily updates, only seven infections were imported, with the remainder in Guangdong.

The State Council inter-departmental task force for COVID-19 response has dispatched a work team to Guangdong to guide the province's efforts in curbing local COVID-19 breakout, a spokesperson said on Monday.

People leaving Guangzhou by plane, train, bus or private car after 10pm on Monday had to present results of a nucleic acid test within the past 72 hours, unless they were transiting, the municipal government announced. It said testing stations for truck drivers would be set up on major roads.

As of 11:40am, a total of 519 flights at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport were canceled, accounting for 37 percent of total flights on Monday, according to aviation data provider Variflight.

Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, which carried 43.8 million passengers last year, was the world's busiest airport in the midst of a global pandemic.

A business center of 18 million people, the city ordered mass testing after locally acquired infections were found from May 21. On Saturday, Guangzhou government ordered residents on five streets in Liwan District to remain at home and suspended non-essential activities, while entertainment venues and markets were closed.

High school students across the city, except for those in their final year of school, have also been ordered to stay home and take lessons online.

Mi Feng, spokesperson for the National Health Commission, urged efforts to ensure the supply of daily necessities to those quarantined at home and keep track of their health conditions. In May, 50 locally transmitted cases have been reported in multiple provinces.

Recent infections in Guangzhou were contracted with a fast-spreading virus strain detected in India according to genome sequencing results, Chen Bin, deputy director at the city's health commission, said on Sunday.