COVID-19: Wuhan detects zero new cases as it completes testing all of its 11 mn residents

The epicentre of deadly coronavirus outbreak, Wuhan has now completed testing all of its 11 million residents and officials said on June 2 that they have not found any new cases of COVID-19 but 300 asymptomatic carriers of the pathogen. Earlier this month, to avoid the risk of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the city authorities had set out an ambitious plan of testing everyone in Wuhan after few clusters were discovered.

The campaign was launched on May 14 and went on till June 1 but even after testing at least 9.9 million people, no new cases of coronavirus infections were detected. Moreover, at the press briefing, the officials informed that 300 asymptomatic carriers of the pathogen are non-infectious. The health professionals did not find any trace of the novel coronavirus in the objects that were used by these 300 individuals including toothbrushes, masks, door handles among other things.

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China, which has now contained the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic, till now has publicly reported at least 84,160 cases of coronavirus with 4,638 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University tally. It, however, excludes the asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19 from the confirmed cases, that are people who do not show the symptoms of the disease. According to international media reports, the cost of city-wide testing that Wuhan started was up to $126 million.

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WHO warns of 'immediate second peak’

Meanwhile, as some countries have started lifting lockdown restrictions imposed to curb the coronavirus spread, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that there can be an “immediate second peak” of the disease if the measures are withdrawn ‘too soon’.

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WHO emergencies director Dr Mike Ryan has noted that even though cases of COVID-19 are decreasing in some parts of the world, they have surged in Central and South America, South Asia, and Africa. While the world is already in the middle of the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic, Ryan said that the governments shall remain “cognizant” that the fatal disease can spike “any time”. 

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(With agency inputs)

Image Source: AP