The southern Chinese city of Guangzhou is planning to build a 250,000-square-meter quarantine complex in response to the growing threat of highly transmissible Covid-19 mutations such as the Delta variant. 

The announcement was made by Zhong Nanshan, one of China’s top epidemiologists, who played a leading role in tackling the SARS outbreak in 2003. According to Zhong, the complex would contain 5,000 isolated spaces for both international travelers and local residents from high-risk areas. According to The South China Morning Post, Zhong believes the quarantine complex is necessary as simply using hotels as quarantine sites would not be enough to halt the spread of the virus due to how much more transmissible the Delta variant is compared to previous ones. 

“In the long term, Guangzhou and Shenzhen must build these kinds of facilities. Otherwise when there are lots of cases in the future and we have to quarantine them in hotels, it will affect the economy and we cannot isolate them in a real sense,” says Zhong.

It is reported that Guangzhou has been assigned by China to be the primary entryway and quarantine location for international visitors. Zhong added that 80 to 90 percent of international travelers enter the country via Guangzhou, making it more susceptible to an outbreak. 

Zhong also stated that according to modeling by the Guangzhou Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the cases in the city could reach 7.3 million in 20 to 30 days if no effective measures were taken. However, this figure could be reduced to 171 with strict measures. 

While further details regarding the quarantine complex in Guangzhou remain to be seen, previous Chinese covid response measures, such as the construction of a two-story, 600,000-square-foot hospital in just 10 days, may offer a glimpse in how the project will be realized.