CHINA is to test the entire nine million population of the city of Qingdao for Covid-19 this week after a dozen cases were linked to a hospital treating coronavirus patients arriving from abroad.

Qingdao’s Municipal Health Commission said six new cases and six asymptomatic cases had been discovered at the facility, prompting the mass testing of the city.

Beijing’s coronavirus strategy includes testing when an outbreak occurs even if only small numbers of cases are recorded. In May, all 11 million people in the city of Wuhan, the epicentre of C-19, were tested.

Qingdao’s health commission said that 114,862 people, including medical staff and patients at the hospital, had already tested negative, and C-19 testing centres have been set up across the city.

Coronavirus has largely been brought under control in China. There are 91,305 current virus cases and the death toll stands at 4,746, according to the World Health Organisation.

The latest outbreak comes a week after China’s Golden Week, in which millions travelled across the country. Nearly five million people visited Qingdao during this period according to the Municipal Bureau of Culture & Tourism.