East China's Qingdao to complete citywide COVID-19 testing within five days
Updated 20:21, 12-Oct-2020
CGTN

Over 1.03 million samples have been collected in city-wide nucleic acid testing in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, after new COVID-19 cases were reported, said an official at a press conference on Monday. 

The National Health Commission has also dispatched an expert team to Qingdao to guide virus prevention and control on Monday.

At the press conference, a Qingdao government official declared the city's Loushanhou community as a medium-risk area for the coronavirus.

Qingdao has reported six new confirmed cases and six new asymptomatic COVID-19 cases over the weekend, the municipal health commission said.

Epidemiological investigations found that the cases were linked to the Qingdao Chest Hospital used to treat imported COVID-19 patients. 

The city will complete nucleic acid testing in five districts within the next three days, and testing will cover the whole city in five days, according to a notice issued by the municipal health commission, adding that the results will be released in a timely manner.

A total of 132 close contacts have been investigated in the city as of 12:00 p.m. on Monday, of which nine tested positive for COVID-19. All 171 close contacts have been quarantined and are under observation, and all nucleic acid test results have been negative, according to the local authorities.