Guangdong officials and experts held a press conference on the province’s fight against the new coronavirus-related pneumonia (2019-nCoV) in Guangzhou today.

Guangdong has confirmed 48 new cases on January 26th, pushing the total number of infected patients to 146. Meizhou and Shanwei report their first cases respectively.

“There is no death case in Guangdong,” said Zhang Guangjun, Vice Governor of Guangdong. “Among the 20 critical cases, 14 remain stable or turn better.”

Guangdong officials and experts held a press conference on the province's fight against the new coronavirus-related pneumonia (2019-nCoV) in Guangzhou, Jan 27th, 2020. (Photo: Nian Qing)

At the press conference, the Vice Governor stressed that cities in Guangdong will not be locked down.

“Our society is stable, and the daily necessities supply is sufficient,” Zhang explained. “Airports, railways, expressways, roads, urban and rural public transport are all taking measures to ensure smooth epidemic containment work as well as the conveyance of medical, living materials.”

According to Vice Governor, 1,268 check points have been set up to conduct 24-hour body temperature check in key places and gates, namely entry-exit ports, railway stations, long-distance bus stations, airports, ports, inter provincial highways, and highway entrances and exits.

Anyone with abnormal body temperature will be transferred to medical institutions for further observation. Epidemiological follow-up and medical isolation are carried out to monitor all close contacts of all confirmed cases.

The Vice Governor calls on that citizens in Guangdong shall stay at home rather than visit friend’s family and have get-togethers. In addition, personnel arriving Guangdong from Wuhan and other places with the epidemic shall have isolation at home or in places as required.

Duan Yufei, Health Commission of Guangdong Province, indicated that no medical staff in Guangdong were infected with the new coronavirus-related pneumonia (2019-nCoV).

“Medical staff are the main force for fighting against the diseases, such as SARS, avian flu, Ebola and the new coronavirus-related pneumonia,” said Duan. “We will do our best to ensure the safety and health of both patients and medical staff.”

Duan indicated that cities in Guangdong will launch designated quarantining sites for monitoring the health condition of close contacts. The period of medical observation is 14 days after the last unprotected contact with suspicious or confirmed case.

“Three measures will be taken for preventing the new coronavirus-related pneumonia from community outbreaks,” said He Jianfeng, Deputy Director of Guangdong Provincial Center for Diseases Control and Prevention, “They are: control the source of infection, cut off transmission routes and protect susceptible population.”

Since a large number of populations will return to Guangdong after the Spring Festival holiday, He suggested people who come from high-risk areas should postpone their return.

He suggested that residents should avoid public gatherings and direct contact with infected patients; wear masks, wash hands more often and follow cough etiquette; stop eating wild animals, separate raw and cooked food and make sure the food is fully cooked; keep the windows open; do more exercise.

Guangdong Government will hold press conference about the province’s work against the new coronavirus-related pneumonia at 4 pm every day.

Wearing masks in public compulsory in Guangdong

To fight against the new pneumonia epidemic, Guangdong issued an announcement on January 26th to request its citizens to wear face masks in public. Managers of public places shall require the staff to wear masks. Those who violate the regulation could be subject to punishment in accordance with relevant regulations.

Passengers in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan and Dongguan must wear face masks when taking the metro.

Public places include:

（1） Hotel, inn, hostel, restaurant, cafe, bar, teahouse;

（2） Public bathroom, barbershop, beauty shop;

（3） Cinema, theater, KTV, video hall, recreation room, dance hall, music hall;

（4） Stadium (gymnasium), swimming pool (natatorium), park, scenic spot, religious place, commercial street and pedestrian street;

（5） Shopping mall (store), bookstore;

（6） Waiting room (in a hospital, airport, port, bus and train station), expressway service area, public transportation tools (including online-car hailing and taxi);

（7） Exhibition hall, museum, art museum, library;

（8） Other public places where people gather together.

Authors: Keane Wong, Steven Yuen, Jasmine Yin, Hannah Zhou

Editor: Wing Zhang