Hefei cancels regular mass COVID testing

Epidemic prevention and control authorities in Hefei, Anhui province, canceled regular mass testing for COVID-19 on Tuesday.

The city's epidemic prevention and control headquarters had declared on Saturday night that testing would be done only once a week. Since May 10, the city, with a residential population of nearly 10 million, had been testing every five days.

The city reported its last new locally transmitted case on April 24 and had cleared all the cases as of May 9.

It also declared on Sunday that people from low-risk areas would no longer need to provide a negative test result obtained within 48 hours before arriving in Hefei.

Liu Zifei, a community Party chief in Hefei, welcomed the easing of prevention and control measures.

"As the year's hottest period approaches, high temperatures could be a serious challenge for epidemic prevention and control workers, especially those who wear protective gowns for hours to collect samples," he said.

Xu Yanan, an employee at a local company, noted that obstacles had been eased for travel within the province, although she has had to scan a QR code before entering another city via highway to show where she had traveled in the past two weeks.