Local authorities in Jiangyin, a city in East China's Jiangsu Province, announced they will give a cash reward of 100 yuan ($15) to residents who consistently take part in five rounds of nucleic acid tests, while those who fail to participate more than two tests will be quarantined at their own expense and punished in accordance with the law.

Jiangyin is currently in a critical period of epidemic prevention and control, and the implementation of large-scale nucleic acid testing is necessary to timely detect those infected with COVID-19, so as to block the spread of the virus as soon as possible, read the statement.

The city reported 48 local infections on Tuesday, all of which were asymptomatic, including 47 cases in centralized isolation centers and one case in control areas. A total of 16,938 close contacts of COVID-19 cases and 4,761 secondary contacts have been identified as of 8 am on Tuesday, all of whom have been put under monitoring.

Residents who do not take nucleic acid tests without valid reasons will no longer have green health codes for entering public places, and their social credit records will also be affected, according to local authorities.

"Those who evade public health and epidemic prevention should be dealt with seriously, so as to allow the public to enjoy again a safe social environment as soon as possible," one netizen commented on Sina Weibo social media platform.

Global Times