Chinese officials announced on Monday that officials will test all nine million residents of the eastern city of Qingdao for the Wuhan coronavirus after confirming 12 …
Chinese officials announced on Monday that officials will test all nine million residents of the eastern city of Qingdao for the Wuhan coronavirus after confirming 12 new infections there. “Mass testing was launched on Sunday evening after reports of the new cases were confirmed. By Sunday night, photos were circulating online showing residents lining up for tests,” the Hindustan Times reported. Local officials said there have been six confirmed local transmissions of the coronavirus and six asymptomatic individuals who tested positive, all of them connected to the Qingdao Chest Hospital, described by the Hindustan Times as a treatment center for “imported” coronavirus cases, including foreign tourists and Chinese who have traveled abroad. China’s state-run Global Times blamed the outbreak on heavy tourism traffic during National Day, the holiday that commemorates the founding of the Communist People’s Republic of China: The outbreak in Qingdao has a certain risk of spreading, public health experts reached by the Global Times warned, as a large number of tourists had been to the tourist city during the holidays, but the scope of spread should be limited and confined to people who had connection with the Qingdao Chest Hospital. Data from the Qingdao Bureau of Culture and Tourism showed that the city received 4.47 million passenger trips during the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays. During the eight-day holiday, the average occupancy rate of 67 star-rated hotels in Qingdao reached 39.
