China to test entire city of 9 million amid outbreak linked to hospital
All 9 million residents of the Chinese city of Qingdao will be tested for COVID-19 this week amid an outbreak linked to a hospital.
The Qingdao Municipal Health Commission made the announcement in a statement Monday, saying the entire city would be tested within five days and the results would be released immediately. The move comes after nine new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in Qingdao, of which eight are patients at the city's Municipal Chest Hospital and one is a family member. Four of the cases were asymptomatic, which China does not count as confirmed cases.
The Qingdao Municipal Health Commission said the specific source of infection remains under investigation.
As of Monday, 114,862 people -- including medical staff and newly hospitalized patients -- had tested negative for COVID-19 in Qingdao, according to the city's health commission.
China's National Health Commission has so far reported 85,578 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 4,634 deaths on the Chinese mainland, where the coronavirus pandemic began last December.