Over 14m Shanghai residents take COVID-19 antigen testing

Residents queue to receive nucleic acid tests at a residential area in East China's Shanghai, March 21, 2022. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

SHANGHAI – More than 14 million residents in China's economic hub Shanghai have taken antigen testing to screen COVID-19 infections, according to a press conference of the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission held Sunday.

Medical staff immediately conducted nucleic acid tests on those who tested positive via the antigen screening, said Wu Qianyu, an official with the commission, adding that control measures were adopted before the results of nucleic acid tests came out.

Shanghai on Saturday launched a new round of citywide screening using both nucleic acid and antigen testing to contain the COVID-19 outbreak.

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On Saturday, Shanghai registered 45 new local confirmed cases and 2,631 local asymptomatic carriers of the coronavirus.