A city in western China finished testing 4.7 million people for coronavirus in four days after workers at a factory tested positive, state media reported on Wednesday.
Kashgar, in the far-western Xinjiang region, had tested its entire population by Tuesday after a coronavirus cluster emerged last week, according to the People’s Daily.
A total of 183 people in Shufu County, part of Kashgar, tested positive, while the other tests came back negative, local authorities said.
Of those who tested positive, 161 patients were asymptomatic, and 22 had developed symptoms.
The coronavirus cluster was connected to the city’s Sancun Factory, the deputy director of the regional health commission said.
Most flights at Kashgar’s airport were cancelled over the weekend, according to Chinese news portal Headline Daily.
China’s National Health Commission had dispatched a working group to the region to lead the response, state media Xinhua reported.
Earlier this month, the entire population of the eastern city of Qingdao was tested for coronavirus after a dozen cases emerged at a hospital.
Similarly, the central city of Wuhan, the original epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, tested its entire population in May.
China reported 42 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, including the 22 in Kashgar and 20 imported from abroad.
The country has largely contained the virus outbreak through population tracking, widespread testing and entry bans.(dpa/NAN)
