Nine Million Residents in China's Qingdao to Undergo Covid-19 Testing

BEIJING, KOMPAS.com – Nine million people in China’s Qingdao city will undergo Covid-19 testing as local health authorities react following a tiny outbreak.

Although the Covid-19 virus first emerged in China, the country has found relative success in containing further outbreaks in stark contrast to many parts of the world still afflicted by rolling lockdowns and high case numbers.

As the Chinese port city of Qingdao faces Covid-19 tests, surging infection numbers in Europe are forcing governments to impose another round of containment effort.

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to announce a new three-tiered alert system for Covid-19 cases in England.

Meanwhile, German authorities shuttered Berlin bars and clubs after 11pm until the end of October whereas France is believed to be mulling local lockdowns in major cities.

In the United States — the world's worst-affected nation with 7.7 million infections and 214,000 deaths — President Donald Trump controversially declared himself immune after his treatment at a Washington hospital last week.

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Six cases of Covid-19 were confirmed on Sunday in China's city of Qingdao prompting health officials to announce the country's first mass Covid-19 testing in months for more than 9 million residents.

Five districts will be tested "within three days" and the whole city "within five days", a statement from Qingdao's municipal health commission said.

It is unclear whether all 9.4 million Qingdao residents would be tested as authorities did not give a precise figure.

China has extensive, quick test capabilities and by noon Monday the health commission said more than 277,000 people had already been tested in Qingdao, with nine positive results.

In June large areas of the capital Beijing were subject to mass tests after the city of more than 20 million detected virus cases linked to a food market.

China has bounced back since the virus emerged, closing the country down and hammering the world's second-largest economy.

Hundreds of millions traveled across the country for the "Golden Week" holiday last week as the country edges back to growth, while rapid tests and swift lockdowns have tamped down secondary waves of the virus.