Local governments have until the end of October to convert the facilities to provide sufficient quarantine accommodation, National Health Commission official Cui Gang told a briefing this week, with at least 20 rooms for every 10,000 residents. The goal was to prevent the country’s quarantine facilities from becoming “scattered” and “disorganized,” Cui said. 

Cities will also need to provide a list of backup quarantine locations to ensure the effectiveness of their quarantine systems, Cui said. 

The move comes as as an outbreak of the delta variant slows in the northern city of Harbin, near the Russian border, and an earlier flare in southeastern Fujian province looks to be fizzling out. The highly-contagious strain of Covid-19 has managed to breach a country that has some of the world’s toughest virus measures and managed to vaccinate roughly three-quarters of its 1.4 billion people, according to Bloomberg’s vaccine tracker.

China Contains Delta Outbreak Ahead of Key Holiday For Economy

The new quarantine centers will be put into service in batches in the event of outbreaks, Cui said. Cities that typically see a substantial number of inbound travelers and port cities with high numbers of imported Covid cases should construct medical observation “health stations” he said, and build large quarantine centers that can be put into use in emergency situations. 

China’s current quarantine facilities, which are mostly limited to hotels, will be closely inspected to make sure they meet certain standards in terms of location, layout and facilities in order to prevent cross-infection, he said. 

China to Build Specialized Quarantine Hubs for Travelers - BNN Bloomberg