Wuhan to test 11 Million residents after new coronavirus cases emerge

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Wuhan is planning to test its entire population of 11 million citizens for coronavirus after 6 new COVID-19 cases emerge.
• The city is thought to be the site where the virus originated and where the first COVID-19 case was reported in late December.
• Wuhan spent almost two and a half months in a full lockdown to stop the spread of the virus.

Chinese officials are planning massive coronavirus testing for all 11 million residents of Wuhan City after six new cases emerge.

The coronavirus pandemic is believed to have started in Wuhan, beginning in late December. The city was under a 76-day full lockdown to halt the spread of the virus.

For 35 days, China has not reported a new case until Saturday when The Washington Post reported an 89-year-old man who tested positive for the coronavirus. The man’s wife and two other elderly couples in their residential compound also tested positive the following day.

The man’s COVID-19 symptoms started showing on March 17, but he recovered at home after about 10 days. In April, the symptoms returned, and he was tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday.

Wuhan authorities immediately tested all of the 5,000 people residing in his compound. They also announced the plan to test all Wuhan residents in the next 10 days. So far, about 1 million have already been tested.

Officials warned residents to keep practicing good hygiene and social distancing, to avoid the dreaded second wave of the outbreak.

South Korea and Germany, which appeared to be past the peak of their outbreaks, are also advising caution after new clusters of the virus were found.

South Korea, which had one of the most efficient COVID-19 testing systems in the world and was able to quickly contain the virus, had begun to reopen, according to People. However, a new cluster of more than 100 cases in Seoul has been a concern. Seoul has again shut down more than 2,000 clubs and bars after a man in his 20’s, who later tested positive for the virus, appears to have spread the virus after visiting several clubs in the city’s Itaewon entertainment district, CBS News reported.

In Germany, the reproduction number for the virus — meaning the number of people that are infected from each new case — had gone above 1 for three days in a row, after holding steady around 0.65, sparking concerns that the country had reopened too soon. On Wednesday, German officials announced that the reproduction number was back below 1.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged citizens to stay home as much as possible.

“We have the obligation to not jeopardize what we have achieved so far already,” she said, according to CNN.

Source: People