A “super-spreader” seller was associated with more than 100 cases of COVID-19 after he toured northeast China promoting products for the elderly, according to reports.
The 45-year-old unknowingly spread the virus when he traveled from his home province of Heilongjiang to the neighboring province of Jilin, Agence France-Presse reported.
While traveling around the region to offer health workshops for the elderly, the man, who was asymptomatic, boarded at least four trains before authorities located him, the South China Morning Post reported.
Health officials in Jilin said 102 infections were related to travel to the cities of Gongzhuling and Tonghua.
“The over-spreading phenomenon occurred in our province mainly because when over-spreading was discovered, he was still in the early stages of his infection and had a relatively strong ability to transmit the virus,” said Zhao Qinglong, a disease control and prevention officer in Jilin province center, told the state news channel Xinhua.
The outbreak comes when more than 3 million people in the province have been placed under blockade, AFP reported.
Authorities are investigating whether the gyms where the vendor maintained its programs violated any guidelines, the media reported.