Guangzhou reported a total of 19 locally transmitted symptomatic COVID-19 cases throughout the whole of Monday, April 18, whereas Shenzhen only reported one.

The city of Guangzhou first reported 10 cases when preliminary figures were released at 3pm on Monday, the figure was updated to 19 the following day. In addition, there were five asymptomatic cases. 

Of the 19 symptomatic cases in Guangzhou, 11 were previously diagnosed as asymptomatic and were upgraded to symptomatic on April 18.  

Eight of the 19 cases, alongside the previously mentioned 11 asymptomatic cases that were upgraded to symptomatic, were already in isolation. 

All cases were found in Baiyun District. 

The fact that all new cases have been confined to the Baiyun area and that all of yesterday’s cases were already in isolation, signals that Guangzhou has managed to contain the spread of the virus. 

However, due to the high transmission rate of the omicron variant, restrictions on restaurants, bars and places of recreation will remain in place until April 24.

On Wednesday, middle school students and above will return to offline classes. 

Chen Bin, Deputy Director of Guangzhou Municipal Health Commission said, "The transmission chain during this wave is clear and 10 main transmission branches have been basically brought under control. Genome sequencing shows that the virus sequences are highly homologous and they belong to the same transmission chain. Today, the newly diagnosed infections have dropped significantly, indicating that the city's prevention and control measures are effective."

Shenzhen reported one new cases of COVID-19, a 29-year-old male who was tested upon his return to the city. 

The city continues to record a high number of imported cases from Hong Kong, with 11 infections crossing the border on April 18. 

In total there were 13 imported cases in Shenzhen on April 18, the remaining two came from Mexico and the UK. 

[Cover image via Weibo@财新网]