Covid-19: ‘Superspreader’ infects over 100 in Jilin

A COVID-19 superspreader in Northeast China's Jilin Province, who caused more than 100 people to be infected, was reportedly engaged in a health-related marketing promotion. Experts warned that health seminars targeting older people are blind spots in the epidemic prevention and control work in residential communities.

The 45-year-old male surnamed Lin, who was identified as a silent coronavirus carrier on Tuesday was reported to have become a confirmed case on Sunday. He came from neighboring Heilongjiang Province and has traveled on trains and buses in three cities in Jilin.

Lin was reported to have given four lectures at two health clubs in Jilin's Gongzhuling and Tonghua as a self-employed marketer from January 8 to 11, causing 118 people to be infected directly and indirectly, including 80 people who attended the lectures or worked in the clubs.

The infected people are mostly middle-aged and elderly. Ten of them are above 80 years old, with the oldest being 93.

Lin told the media that he was promoting linseed oil sales at the clubs and was not giving any health-related lectures, the Beijing News reported on Monday.

Authorities have carried out a joint investigation into the health clubs that organized Lin's marketing promotions to determine if the clubs' operations or the products being sold were illegal or in violation of local regulations, said an official from the market supervision department of the Jilin government at the press conference.

Subscribe to our Facebook page