People in Guangzhou, both local residents and expats alike, can take a nucleic acid test at the following 16 designated hospitals with valid documentation. In addition, you can also get tested in any of the city's hospitals that have a fever clinic.

People line up for a nucleic acid test in Huaqiangbei Commercial Street, Shenzhen. (Photo: Zhu Hongbo)

All the designated hospitals below are top-tier tertiary hospitals in the province and are located across the city's 11 districts. They have also drafted medical workers who speak a foreign language to offer medical service to expats.

The Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center in Zhujiang New Town provides testing services exclusively for children.

List of 16 designated hospitals for COVID-19 testing in Guangzhou

How to decide if you should be tested?

People should be tested for COVID-19 when they have respiratory symptoms, signs of fever, or history of epidemiology, according to Duan Yufei, chief of the Health Commission of Guangdong Province. If you are exhibiting none of the above-mentioned symptoms, generally speaking, you need not be tested.

Guangzhou also encourages people including recent arrivals and expats who have a history of having travelled or lived abroad during the epidemic, or who probably have had close contact with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19, or who show any symptoms such as fever, cough, or shortness of breath to take a nucleic acid test at a designated hospital.

People should also undergo nucleic acid tests of their own volition on the 7th and 14th days after they have been discharged from hospital after recovering from COVID-19 or finishing their period of medical observation.

"This is not only for the sake of your own health, but also to protect the health and safety of everyone in our community," an official of the city’s health commission said.

Author: Monica Liu

Editors: Nan Hu, Simon Haywood