China's Zhangjiajie completes 2 rounds of mass testing for COVID-19

A medical worker takes a swab sample from a resident for COVID-19 nucleic acid testing in Zhangjiajie, central China's Hunan Province, Aug. 4, 2021. Central China's city of Zhangjiajie, which has reported a cluster of the country's recent COVID-19 infections, had completed two rounds of all-inclusive nucleic acid testing as of Tuesday, local authorities said. More than 809,000 people were sampled since the city launched its first round of mass testing on July 29, said the municipal headquarters on COVID-19 prevention and control during a press conference held Wednesday afternoon. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

CHANGSHA, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Central China's city of Zhangjiajie, which has reported a cluster of the country's recent COVID-19 infections, had completed two rounds of all-inclusive nucleic acid testing as of Tuesday, local authorities said.

More than 809,000 people were sampled since the city launched its first round of mass testing on July 29, said the municipal headquarters on COVID-19 prevention and control during a press conference held Wednesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, 12 cabin nucleic acid testing labs have been set up in the city with more than 190 medical workers working around the clock, according to the city's headquarters.

People in Zhangjiajie, including tourists, are not allowed to leave the city from Tuesday as part of efforts to curb the latest resurgence of COVID-19.

Zhangjiajie, a famous tourist destination in Hunan Province, has provided free hotels and epidemic prevention supplies to tourists stranded due to the epidemic, and arranged medical staff to conduct nucleic acid tests for holidaymakers at their hotels.

Currently, all the stranded tourists have been relocated to the city's designated hotels, according to the municipal headquarters.

Zhangjiajie closed all tourist sites on July 30. The city has reported 13 locally-transmitted confirmed cases and three asymptomatic carriers since July 29. Several Chinese cities have reported spikes in COVID-19 infections. A number of the affected had recently visited Zhangjiajie.