COVID-19 scare: China’s Wuhan to test all residents as Delta variant rages

Recently, Wuhan authorities announced they would test its complete population for COVID-19 after the central Chinese city where the coronavirus appeared reported its first local infections in over a year.

China is battling against its largest coronavirus outbreak, confining the residents of whole cities to their homes, cutting transport links. Also, it started mass testing quickly to tackle Delta variant challenges, its zero-Covid strategy, and homegrown vaccines.

Beijing had earlier claimed its success in defeating the virus, enabling the economy to rebound and normal life. In contrast, swathes of the globe have fought with the pandemic that has killed over four million people worldwide.

But the latest outbreak is frightening China’s success, with over 400 domestic cases reported since mid-July when a cluster among airport cleaners in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, sparked infections in more than 20 cities over a dozen provinces.

At a press conference Wuhan, a city of 11 million, is “quickly launching whole nucleic acid testing of all residents,” senior city official Li Tao said.

Authorities stated that seven locally spread infections had been discovered amongst migrant workers in the city, breaking a year-long streak without domestic cases after Wuhan crushed an initial outbreak with an unusual lockdown in early 2020.

And the vacation destination of Zhangjiajie in central China’s Hunan province abruptly declared that no one would be permitted to exit the city after shutting down tourist attractions and urging visitors to leave last week.

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