Covid-19: Dr Hilary calls for return of masks as cases rise
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According to state media, the National Health Commission in China has dispatched over 10,000 medical professionals from across the country to support the outbreak-hit city of Hainan. Hainan, which is a major tourist destination, has been gripped by a surge of Covid-19 infections, as official data reports over 400 new domestically transmitted in the city, compared to the 828 total new cases.
Earlier today, the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council held a press conference to introduce the recent epidemic prevention and control work, according to state media CCTV.
Guo Yanhong, an official with the National Health Commission’s bureau of medical administration, noted for some time, the Covid outbreak in Hainan had been spreading silently, only to spread rapidly due to the highly transmissible nature of the Omicron variant.
He added that the epidemic situation is complicated, severe and developing rapidly.
Given that the city’s health infrastructure and medical resources are below average, the health body has dispatched thousands of workers from across the country.
Beijing has sent nearly 8,000 medical workers to conduct nucleic acid tests, which has given the city a vital boost to its capacity, now being able to evaluate 2.4 million nucleic acid test tubes daily, a total potential daily capacity of 24 million tests, she noted.
The Commission has dispatched a further 2,000 or so medical workers to treat infected patients, and nearly 300 more staff to handle epidemiological investigation and supervision.
Ms Guo added that the key is ensuring the efficiency and quality of nucleic acid tests to discover positive cases as soon as possible.
She also stressed the importance of rapid contact tracing and quarantining of people who are at risk.
She added that with support from around the country and strong measures taken by the local government, the outbreak in Hainan will be effectively contained soon.
Authorities have announced a lockdown in the popular resort city of Sanya on China’s tropical Hainan island, which has left 80,000 tourists stranded.
On Saturday, authorities shut down public transportation systems and restricted movement of people in a bid to curb the spread of the virus.
The tourists stuck on the island are stuck there for seven days and have been asked to clear five Covid-19 tests before leaving.
CCTV reported that all trains leaving Sanya had been cancelled, as flight tracking companies reported over 80 percent of flights have been grounded.
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This resurgence of Covid comes as earlier today an outbreak of a new virus in China put health officials on red alert after 35 people reportedly became infected, and it could potentially be fatal.
Known as the Langya Henipavirus, or “Langya”, 35 people have so far become infected across China’s Shandong and Henan provinces.
According to Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC), so far no one has died or suffered a serious illness, the Taipei Times reports.
But given that the virus is from the Henipavirus family, it could potentially be fatal.
That is because the two other viruses from this family, Hendra virus and Nipah virus, can have fatality rates of up to 75 percent in severe cases, according to the World Health Organisation.
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