Wuhan to launch citywide testing to detect asymptomatic cases

The central Chinese city of Wuhan will arrange nucleic acid tests for all residents who have not been tested before, in order to better know the number of asymptomatic cases of the novel coronavirus.

The decision was made as the virus-ravaged city continued to report daily increases of asymptomatic infections, which raised concerns among the public.

After a city government meeting on Thursday, officials said the massive testing aims to timely identify and quarantine asymptomatic cases and create a safe environment for work resumption in its factories, businesses and schools.

Previously, the city of about 10 million people completed over 3 million nucleic acid tests.

The upcoming testing will give priority to residential compounds that had previously reported infections, as well as old and densely populated buildings. Testing agencies will send teams into targeted areas to get the samples, instead of asking residents to visit hospitals.

Wuhan over the weekend reported six new confirmed cases of COVID-19, ending its zero increase record it had held for over a month. All of the new infections were previously asymptomatic cases from one old residential compound.