The Guangzhou municipal people's government information office held a COVID-19 control and prevention press conference on March 16, in which it reported information related to three newly detected COVID-19 patients that have shown mild symptoms. The details are as follows:

Patient 1: A patient is a 37-year-old man who lives in Guanghe Community of Tianhe South neighborhood, Tianhe district. He returned to Guangzhou by high-speed rail on March 13 from another province. He took a nucleic acid test at Guangzhou South Railway Station and the result came back negative. The patient tested positive in the regular nucleic acid testing organized by his employer. He took a second test and tested positive again.

Patient 2: The patient is a 7-year-old boy. He is the son of Patient 1 and he lives with Patient 1. He tested positive in the testing conducted on March 16 for close contact. He tested positive again in the second test.

Patient 3: A patient is a 34-year-old man. He is the younger brother of Patient 1. The patient returned to Guangzhou from another province with Patient 1 on March 13. He tested negative for three consecutive days on March 13, 14, and 15. He tested positive in the testing conducted on March 16 for close contact. He tested positive again in the second test.

All three patients have been transported to No 8 Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University for quarantine. The medical treatment expert panel studied the clinical and imaging manifestations, as well as the laboratory test results, and concluded that the patients had been infected by SARS-Cov-2 (with mild symptoms). Currently, the patients are in stable conditions.

According to the patients' movements and epidemiological investigation results, 17 potential exposure sites have been identified covering five districts. The potential exposure sites are as follows:

Tianhe district (7): No 14 Guanghe First Street, Tianhe South neighborhood; Rouxianhui Fresh Produce Store (Tianhe Street Store); 7-11 Convenience Store (Tianhe Road No 2 Store); Tiyu Xilu Elementary School (West Campus); Daycare and Learning Center, Guangzhou Funeral Service Center; Sinochem Guangdong.

Huangpu district (7): Huangpu Border Checkpoint; No 67 Chunhui Second Street, Yunpu neighborhood; Guangzhou Development District Hospital Nangang Campus; Pinsheng Supermarket (Huangpu Store); Fruit Store (Fuzhidao Fresh Produce Supermarket); The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University (East Campus); Weimeng Hardware (No 227 Zhongshan Avenue East).

Liwan district (1): Meili Xinzhu, No 187 Zhongshan Seven Road.

Yuexiu district (1): No 10-1 Renxiu New Street, Dadong neighborhood.

Panyu district (1): Guangzhou South Railway Station.