China built the first of many 5,000-room quarantine center for overseas arrivals
When it comes to keeping Covid-19 at bay, few countries seem willing to go as far as China. As governments worldwide reopen borders and loosen coronavirus restrictions, Beijing is doubling down on its zero-Covid strategy. The latest example: a $260 million, 5,000-room quarantine facility for incoming travellers set to open in the southern metropolis of Guangzhou in the coming days.
Comprised of rows of three-story buildings topped with grey roofs in traditional Chinese style, the massive complex spanned an area the size of 46 football fields and took less than three months to be built from scratch on the outskirts of the city.
It will replace designated hotels throughout Guangzhou to quarantine Chinese and international travellers arriving from overseas, a move aimed at reducing residents' exposure to imported cases.
Travellers will be transferred on buses directly from the airport and confined to their rooms for two weeks. Each room is fitted with a video chat camera and an artificial intelligence-powered thermometer, with three meals a day delivered by robots designed to minimise direct contact with staff members.
"It's arguably the most state-of-the-art quarantine centre in the world if you will -- very high tech, very sophisticated," said Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations.
As it's officially named, the Guangzhou International Health Station is China's first. But experts say it could be the first of many as the Chinese government intensifies its uncompromising, zero-tolerance strategy toward the coronavirus.
Already, the manufacturing hub of Dongguan, about an hour's drive from Guangzhou, is building its own "international health station" with 2,000 rooms. Further south, the technology hub of Shenzhen is also planning for such a facility.
"This is not just a stopgap measure. (Chinese leaders) hold the view that this pandemic is going to take a while to end, and China is going to continue this strict control of its borders," Huang said. "Facilities like this serve as a way to institutionalise the zero-tolerance strategy."
For more than 18 months, China has closed its borders to most foreigners. Those few who are allowed to enter, and returning Chinese citizens, must undergo at least two weeks of mandatory hotel quarantine, followed by at least another week of centralised quarantine or home isolation, including those who are fully vaccinated.
But the virus has repeatedly breached China's defences. In May, the highly infectious Delta variant caused an outbreak in the southern province of Guangdong, including in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. At that time, Guangdong was receiving 90% of all overseas travellers entering China, with about 30,000 people quarantined in its 300 centralised facilities daily, according to a provincial health official.
Guangdong had contained the outbreak by late June, but authorities decided existing measures were insufficient to shut the virus out. Zhong Nanshan, a top public health adviser to the government, told state media that Guangzhou would build a centralised quarantine facility for all overseas arrivals to enforce stricter rules.
The project kicked off quickly, with more than 4,000 workers assigned to the construction site. The facility was completed earlier this month, and the first batch of 184 medical staff moved in last week to prepare for its official launch.
They face a tough job ahead. The complex is designed as a bubble to be isolated from the rest of the city, meaning not only travellers but also workers will be placed under effective lockdown. Medical staff will work for 28 days at the facility, go through a week of quarantine themselves, and another two weeks of home quarantine before they're allowed to go outside,.
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