QINGDAO — Qingdao, a coastal city in East China's Shandong province, has completed a citywide nucleic acid testing covering all its 11 million residents starting on Oct 12, after a new cluster of local COVID-19 infections emerged.

As of 8 am on Oct 16, over 10.16 million of the collected samples had been tested, and results showed no new positive cases, Xue Qingguo, Qingdao's deputy mayor told a press conference, adding that the results of the remaining samples will be released by 6 pm.

The re-emerged infections have led to 13 new confirmed cases by Oct 15. Inappropriate disinfection in the CT room at the Qingdao Chest Hospital was believed to be responsible for the infections.