Local residents wearing face masks queue for the coronavirus test in Qingdao, Shandong province. [Photo/chinanews.com]

More than 225,000 people outside Qingdao have been sampled in a search for the coronavirus in Shandong province as of 8 am on Tuesday, following the emergence of positive tests in Qingdao over the weekend.

These cities in Shandong started testing people who had visited Qingdao since Sept 23 to contain the spread of the virus. All tested samples so far have been negative, according to the Shandong office that oversees the work of epidemic prevention and economic development.

In Jinan, the provincial capital, residents who have been to Qingdao or who have lived with people from Qingdao since Sept 23 have been asked to report to local communities and get two free nucleic acid tests and an antibody test.

Qingdao initiated a testing program for 9 million people over a five-day span. The city had collected and tested more than 3 million swab samples as of 8 am on Tuesday. Results from 1.1 million of those tests have all been negative, according to the office.