Kevin Baker, director of the American International School of Guangzhou, gives a thumbs-up while being vaccinated. [Photo by Zheng Erqi/China Daily]

A new international health hub will open in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, in September to help prevent the importation and spread of the coronavirus on the Chinese mainland.

Huang Yihui, president of Guangzhou Red Cross Hospital, said the initial staff contingent will comprise 450 people — about 300 medical staff and 150 administrative personnel, he said.

Located in Zhongluotan township in Baiyun district, the hub — with more than 250,000 square meters — will include a fever clinic, a comprehensive medical clinic, blood purification centers and laboratories providing high-quality diagnosis and treatment services for inbound passengers, he said. It will have 5,000 isolation rooms.

After it is put into service, the safe, comfortable and intelligent hub will supplant the current quarantine hotels in the city and receive inbound passengers for quarantine and medical observation.

Gao Yuyue, deputy secretary-general of the Guangzhou municipal government, announced to construction of the new health hub late last month, after ordinary hotels used for isolation and quarantine no longer satisfied quarantine requirements.

Guangdong, China's southern gateway, has now become one of the major front-line areas on the mainland to intercept and manage people with COVID-19 who are entering the country.

According to a statement released by the provincial Health Commission, Guangdong, which has a population of more than 125 million, reported five imported COVID-19 cases on Sunday, bringing its total to 2,756 patients, including 1,190 imported cases. And as of Sunday, 123 patients remained hospitalized.