The latest outbreak of new COVID-19 infections in Qingdao, a port city in eastern China's Shandong province, was caused by patients sharing the same computed tomography (CT) scan room that was used by infected patients, a local health official said on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th October, 2020) The latest outbreak of new COVID-19 infections in Qingdao, a port city in eastern China's Shandong province, was caused by patients sharing the same computed tomography (CT) scan room that was used by infected patients, a local health official said on Friday.
Three new cases of asymptomatic COVID-19 infection were detected in a hospital in Qingdao on October 11, when local authorities responded to the new outbreak by launching a citywide campaign to test all the local residents for possible infections. The new cases marked the first COVID-19 infections among local residents in China after almost two months without new local cases.
During a press conference on Friday, Ma Lixin, the party secretary of the Shandong Province Center of Disease Control, said the newly infected patients identified on October 11 contracted the new coronavirus after using the same CT scan room, which was used by COVID-19 patients being treated at the same hospital.
"The surveillance video from the Qingdao Chest Hospital proved: while two infected COVID-19 patients from the Qingdao Port were under isolated supervision at the hospital, they left the enclosed quarantine area to be checked at a CT scan room. As the CT scan room became contaminated because of improper disinfection after their visit, a patient surnamed Li and her caretaker surnamed Niu were both infected the next morning after visiting the same CT scan room," Ma said.
Ma added that Li, who was being treated for tuberculosis at the hospital, and her caretaker Niu brought the virus to the area from the hospital for tuberculosis patients, leading to further infections.
As of Friday, Qingdao has identified 12 new COVID-19 cases since October 11, including the initially identified three asymptomatic patients who later developed symptoms.
The two previously infected COVID-19 patients from the Qingdao Port were identified in late September, when they both tested positive for the new coronavirus after handling imported frozen seafood.
According to Ma, Qingdao is expected to complete the citywide COVID-19 tests by 6 p.m. local time (10:00 GMT) on Friday. As of 8 a.m. local time (00:00 GMT) on Friday, the city has conducted 10.78 million COVID-19 tests with 10.16 million results, which were all negative except for the 12 new infections that were identified earlier.
As of Friday, the city of Qingdao has identified 78 local COVID-19 cases, 37 imported cases and 48 asymptomatic cases, with one fatality, according to the local health commission.
