All residents of the northeastern city of Dalian, China will be tested for Covid-19, Chinese health officials announced on Sunday, July 26, South China Morning Post reported.

Local authorities are scrambling to control the spread of a new cluster of Covid-19 infections in the city.

Dalian is a port in Liaoning province with a population of over six million people.

The city confirmed 12 new cases of local origin and 14 asymptomatic cases on July 25.

Dalian’s cluster of infections was first reported on Wednesday, July 22.

That day, a 58-year-old man working at a seafood processing company tested positive.

A team from the National Health Commission was in Dalian on Friday night to guide the containment measures.

By Saturday, Covid-19 cases had spread to seven other cities in four provinces, mostly asymptomatic case.

Tests to be done in 4 days

According to a statement released by the National Health Commission on Sunday, the city should aim to complete nucleic acid testing within four days, with all costs to be covered by the government.

So far, most of the confirmed and asymptomatic cases are related to the seafood company.

In response, Dalian has put all of the firm’s employees and their close contacts under the 14-day quarantine.

The quarantine order will be expanded to cover more possible close contacts.

China reported 35 local infections cases on Saturday, 22 in the northwest region of Xinjiang, and 13 in Liaoning province -- 12 of which were in Dalian.

The government will conduct a second round of nucleic acid tests for residents in several high-risk districts in Urumqi, capital of the autonomous Xinjiang region, to improve accuracy.

The Covid-19 death toll around the world has closed in on 643,000 as of July 25.

Worldwide number of cases has now topped 16 million.