Dalian to test 190,000 due to new cases

City has 3 confirmed COVID-19 patients while Xinjiang's capital adds 18 to total

Dalian, a coastal city in Liaoning province, will launch novel coronavirus screening for 190,000 people in response to new local COVID-19 cases reported in the city on Wednesday after a clear record of more than 100 days.

Luo Weixing, deputy secretary-general of the Dalian city government, said at a news conference on Thursday that the city will conduct nucleic acid testing for people living in areas related to confirmed cases and where mobile transmission is possible.

Dalian reported two more local COVID-19 cases and 12 asymptomatic infections on Thursday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to three. The new cases were found after the first case was reported on Wednesday, prompting the city to launch an epidemiological investigation into the patient's close contacts. All the new asymptomatic infections are coworkers of the first confirmed case at a seafood processing factory, local health authorities said on Thursday.

Zhao Lian, deputy director of the Dalian Health Commission, said the factory's seafood processing plant, cold storage and 18 directly operated stores had been closed. Some of the food and environmental samples that tested positive for the novel coronavirus were collected in the factory's workshops, office buildings, dormitories, catering rooms, toilets and other places.