Wuhan, the Chinese city where the coronavirus pandemic began, has announced an ambitious plan to test all of its 11 million residents for the virus in the coming days, a campaign that will be closely watched by governments elsewhere.
While some residents have been supportive, others are concerned or angry about being asked to join long lines outdoors and risk becoming infected. Even though the lockdown in Wuhan has lifted, many residents have still chosen to stay home as much as possible.
And at least one senior expert said it was unnecessary to test every resident in Wuhan, given the low number of cases in the city.
The testing drive, which is likely to require the mobilization of thousands of medical and other workers, shows the ruling Communist Party’s resolve to prevent a second wave of infections as it tries to restart China’s economy. The plan was announced this week after Wuhan reported six coronavirus cases, breaking a streak of more than a month without any new confirmed infections.
The city’s goal of testing every resident is unrivaled in scale and in the speed at which Wuhan apparently plans to carry it out.
Some countries, like South Korea and Germany, have aggressively tested and traced infections, albeit at much lower levels than Wuhan is trying. In the United States, the rate of testing is still far short of the three million to five million tests per week that experts say will be necessary to safely reopen the country.
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