China: Wuhan to conduct COVID-19 tests on all residents as cases surge in the country

In the wake of the recent COVID-19 surge, China's Central Hubei province has announced mass COVID-19 test of all residents on Wuhan city. The city authorities stated on August 2, Monday that the entire population of about 11 million people has to undergo thorough coronavirus tests to mitigate risk levels during the second wave in the country.

Even though Wuhan reported zero cases in July 2020, Hubei province reported 9 locally transmitted cases in the last 24 hours of which 6 were recorded in Wuhan city. The current spike in cases has touched the total infections to 50,340 in Wuhan and 68,201 in Hubei province. The city shot into the spotlight after the first case of the novel Coronavirus was reported in late 2019 from Wuhan itself.

Similar orders have also been issued in the tourist destination of Zhangjiajie in the Chinese Central Hunan province and Zhuzhou city. About 2 million people are scheduled to undergo COVID-19 tests to ensure safety during the outbreak of the Delta-variant of the novel virus. New Covid-19 cases have been reported in at least 18 Chinese provinces, which has prompted the Chinese government to strengthen COVID-19 measures.

Wuhan tightens COVID-19 measures

The announcement in Wuhan came in after China reported 90 new cases on August 3, Tuesday. The National Health Commission confirmed 61 locally spread ones and 29 among people who had recently arrived from abroad. The Hubei province officials have also suspended tutorial institutions and offline classes to strengthen campus health monitoring, the ANI reported.

Additionally, the local authorities have also mandated mask-wearing in public transports such as metros and trains. Moreover, the citizens are also mandated to undergo body temperature measurements and checking health codes.

The first outbreak of Delta-variant was recorded among Nanjing Airport workers

The news spread of the virus was first detected among workers at Nanjing airport. Following this, the local authorities have conducted tests on about 9.2 million residents of Nanjing at least three times. They have also imposed a strict lockdown on hundreds of residents in the area. According to reports in a new outbreak had also been recorded in the Chinese capital Beijing after the city reported 11 cases between July 20- August 2. The outbreak then spread to the city of Yangzhou, about105 kilometers (65 miles) away. Five other provinces and the cities of Beijing and Shanghai reported new local cases in the single digits. In Shanghai, the nation's largest city, a driver working at one of its two main airports tested positive, the PTI reported.

(With inputs from ANI)