The city of Qingdao in east China’s Shandong Province said yesterday it will test its entire population of more than 9 million people for coronavirus, after discovering 12 new infections that appeared to be linked to a hospital treating imported infections.
Daily COVID-19 infections in China’s mainland have fallen drastically since the early outbreak. China had reported no new domestically transmitted cases since early August, but has remained on high alert.
Qingdao reported a total of six new COVID-19 cases and six asymptomatic infections on Sunday, all linked to the Qingdao Chest Hospital, where infected travelers arriving from overseas have been treated in an isolated area. The specific source of infection was still under investigation.
The testing would cover the city in five days, the city said, and over a million samples have already been collected.
Starting from 7am yesterday, the residents of a community in the city’s Shinan District began to line up at a testing point to receive nucleic acid testing. They were notified to undergo the testing on Sunday evening.
“It took about 20 minutes to wait before getting the testing. It’s a responsible move to conduct tests for ourselves and for others, too,” said a local resident surnamed Wang.
Read more in Shangai Daily
