Haikou starts nucleic acid testing on 15 groups of people

Medical workers take a swab sample from a Haikou Meilan International Airport aircraft worker. [Photo/People's Daily]

The city of Haikou in Hainan province started its nucleic acid testing campaign on 15 groups of people on Aug 4.

The 15 groups of people include the following: people who recently returned from overseas, patients at fever clinics, people arriving from high-risk areas in China, newly hospitalized patients and accompanying persons, people who came in close contact with confirmed cases, secondary close contact, staff handling international mail and cargo, international flights, cruise ships and freighters staff, non-designated medical institutions staff, prison staff, staff working in confined or densely populated places, port quarantine and border inspection staff, workers at social welfare and elderly care institutions, and imported cold chain food workers.

The Hainan capital city reported a positive COVID-19 nucleic acid test on Aug 5. The patient, surnamed Lin, 38, is a porter at Haikou Meilan International Airport.

On Aug 4, he went to the fever clinic at Haikou Fourth People's Hospital for a nucleic acid test. At the time of taking his temperature, his temperature was 36.9 C, and he showed no symptoms of a cough, sputum, chest tightness, shortness of breath, or fatigue. He declared no travel history overseas or to domestic medium- and high-risk areas and, no contact with suspected or confirmed patients.

At present, the patient has been sent to the Haikou Fourth People's Hospital for quarantine and treatment, and the provincial and municipal centers for disease control are reviewing his new samples.

Haikou city has medical professionals currently investigating how the virus was transmitted to the patient, and has adopted temporary closure measures around the places where he works and lives.

A medical worker takes a swab sample from a Haikou Meilan International Airport air hostess. [Photo/People's Daily]

A medical worker takes a swab sample from a Haikou Meilan International Airport sanitation worker on Aug 5. [Photo/People's Daily]