XINJIANG: In the wake of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) outbreak in Kashi, residents of Urumqi, capital of Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region are being encouraged to get tested for the virus, in an expansion to the city’s regular nucleic acid testing of city residents which began in mid-September.

In Urumqi, some residential compounds have asked all residents to get tested, while other communities are asking only the elderly and children to take the free nucleic acid test. Public sector workers in Urumqi have been tested every seven days since September following an earlier outbreak in the city, said a resident in Urumqi who asked not to be named.