Coronavirus: 178,000 people given the all-clear in mass test sparked by asymptomatic port workers
- Two men at Qingdao port test positive for Covid-19 after working night shift unpacking frozen food
- Two ships put on temporary blacklist after coronavirus found on goods they were carrying
A total of 178,475 people were tested and there were no positive results, the Qingdao Municipal Health Commission in Shandong province said on Saturday.
The programme was initiated after two male workers at Qingdao port tested positive for Covid-19 in a routine test arranged by their company on Thursday.
Neither of the men – identified only as Dong, 40, and Chen, 45 – had shown any symptoms of the disease but were now in quarantine in hospital and receiving treatment, the health authority said.
They had both tested negative in a routine nucleic acid test on September 8, but the positive results came after they had worked a night shift unpacking frozen food.
As of 8am Saturday, 209 of the pair’s close contacts had been traced and tested for the coronavirus. All of them returned negative results but would still undergo a period of quarantine, the authority said.