Residents wearing face masks on a street in Guangzhou in South China’s Guangdong Province on Thursday. Several districts in Guangzhou have lifted temporary restrictions. Photo: VCG

Guangzhou in South China's Guangdong Province has entered the final stage of the epidemic, with 85 percent of the city residents having been infected with COVID-19, Guangzhou health authorities said on Wednesday. The current strain in circulation remains Omicron BA.5.2, and the XBB strain has not been detected in local cases.

The city has been preparing medical services for the upcoming Spring Festival, including epidemic monitoring, tiered and classified health services and vaccination, Zhang Yi, deputy director and spokesperson for the Guangzhou Health Commission, said at Wednesday's press briefing.

A number of regions across China have reported that they have already passed the first peak of COVID-19 infections as the number of patients at fever clinics continues to fall. But in the face of the upcoming Spring Festival, all medical institutions across the country are also making efforts to ensure residents can get timely medical services.

In Guangzhou, the city has been working on epidemic monitoring including virus variation monitoring, population antibody level monitoring and risk assessment, so as to dynamically adjust prevention, control and treatment measures, Zhang noted.

During the Spring Festival, Guangzhou's 120 emergency command system will maintain 24-hour services, giving priority to critical patients. The daily capacity of pre-hospital ambulances is no less than 200 to ensure smooth operation. Guangzhou's 188 secondary-class and above medical institutions will provide fever clinics and emergency services 24 hours a day, according to the authorities.

Guangzhou has also equipped grass-roots medical institutions with 14,142 finger-clip oximeters and a batch of oxygen generators, as well as distributing fever and cough drugs.

Guangzhou called on residents to avoid peak travel and to observe personal protection in the upcoming holidays as winter and spring normally see a high incidence of respiratory tract infections. The city has also arranged COVID-19 vaccination sites for all residents, especially elderly residents who need to complete the full vaccination and booster program.