8,761 Cases, Restaurants Open in Panyu and COVID Testing Update

By Lars James Hamer, November 17, 2022

Guangdong province has reported a total of 8,883 new cases of COVID-19 today, Thursday, November 17, 2022. Of the total number of infections, 307 are symptomatic and 8,576 are asymptomatic.

The cases per city are as follows:

Guangzhou 8,761
Shenzhen 7
Shaoguan 2
Heyuan 1
Huizhou 2
Zhongshan 4
Yangjiang 6
Zhanjiang 5
Zhaoqing 32
Qingyuan 1
Zhuhai 8
Foshan 18
Dongguan 29
Jiangmen 3
Maoming 4
Jieyang 1

The situation in Guangzhou…

In Guangzhou, 275 symptomatic cases and 8,486 asymptomatic cases were reported today, November 17, 2022, a total of 8,761 and an increase of 2,351 from yesterday.

Of the total infections, 8,745 were found in some form of isolation and the remaining 16 were found outside of quarantine.

Good news for Panyu district…

In Panyu district, aside from high-risk and temporary control areas, the following measures have been adjusted:

Restaurants can offer dine-in service but are limited to spacial seating (one meter between tables) and a maximum of 10 people per table.
Training centers can resume 'normal service.'
Tourist attractions and scenic spots can re-open.
From November 21, schools and kindergartens can resume offline teaching.
Entrance to communities, villages, businesses, parks, office buildings, etc. requires a negative COVID-19 test taken within 48 hours.
KTV bars, dance studios, cinemas, swimming pools and gyms, bars, internet cafes and other places of recreation will remain closed.

What’s going on with mass testing?

Several provinces across China have rolled back mass testing requirements in line with the 20 new policies outlined by the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council.

Regarding mass testing, new rules state that it should only be implemented during an outbreak if the source or chain of infection of the said outbreak is unclear, or if community transmission continues for a long period.

In Guangdong province, currently the worst affected area in China, Shantou city announced yesterday, Wednesday, November 16, 2022, that they would no longer require 72-hour test results in some areas.

Guangzhou has also announced that they would be implementing the measures and redirecting resources to Haizhu, where over 90% of the infections from this breakout have been recorded.

If you’re seeing fewer testing points in your area, the reasons outlined above are some of the reasons why.

If you’re wondering why Guangzhou is still mass testing, that’s because the local government previously said that the number of infections keeps rising because the transmission chain in the city is unclear.

China COVID hot spots...

Looking to get out of Shanghai?

Below is a list of COVID-19 cases by region as reported yesterday, locally transmitted and asymptomatic combined – you may wish to avoid those nearer the top!