China will test over nine million residents of its port city of Qingdao after six cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on Sunday, AFP reported. 

The cases were reported in a hospital, Qingdao municipal health commission said in a statement on Monday.

Five districts will be tested “within three days” and the whole city of 9.4 million will be tested “within five days”, the statement added.

China has extensive, quick test capabilities and the health commission said over 140,000 employees of “medical institutions, newly admitted patients and personnel” have already been tested in Qingdao since the cases were confirmed.

In June large areas of Beijing were subject to mass tests after the city of more than 20 million detected virus cases linked to a food market.

The novel coronavirus outbreak was first reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December, last year. It has since then, reported over 90,000 cases and about 5,000 deaths, as per the tally by John Hopkins University.

Also read: COVID-19 broke out in various parts of the world, we only reported first, says China

At the peak of the disease outbreak, China closed the country down and was able to contain the outbreak.

Hundreds of millions travelled across the country for the ‘Golden Week’ holiday last week as the country edges back to growth, while rapid tests and swift lockdowns have tamped down secondary waves of the virus.

The country where the virus first emerged has largely controlled the pandemic, cutting a stark contrast to many parts of the world still afflicted by rolling lockdowns and high case numbers.