2nd Chinese city orders mass testing for COVID-19 after Wuhan

A Chinese city close to the Russian border has ordered the COVID-19 tests for all 2.8 million residents, becoming the second city in the country after Wuhan, the first virus epicentre, conducted mass testing of its entire population, state-media reported on Thursday.

According to the China's National Health Commission (NHC), one imported case was reported in Guangdong Province on Wednesday. Also, four new asymptomatic cases were reported in the country. In all, 326 asymptomatic cases, including 245 in Wuhan were under quarantine, it said. As of Wednesday, the overall confirmed cases in the country reached 83,022.

Among the total, 69 patients were still being treated, 78,319 had been discharged after recovery, and 4,634 people died of the disease, the report said. Meanwhile, Mudanjiang city in China’s Heilongjiang province bordering Russia has ordered the coronavirus tests for its 2.8 million people, official media here reported.

Some of the cities in the province registered clusters of coronavirus infections in April and May following an influx of Chinese nationals returning from Russia through the land border. Mudanjiang opted for mass testing after 15 asymptomatic COVID-19 patients reported there last week, state-run CGTN reported.

Municipal health authorities have determined to further expand their nucleic acid testing team, consisting of 1,196 people from over 20 medical institutions that had been trained and prepared for the testing. Wuhan, where the coronavirus first emerged in December last year has just completed testing of about 10 million of its 11.2 million population at a cost USD 126 million following recurring asymptomatic cases.

During the testing, regarded as a major success, no new confirmed coronavirus cases were detected. However, about 300 asymptomatic cases were registered during the mass testing in Wuhan. Authorities said the investigation outcome suggested that the proportion of asymptomatic infections in Wuhan is very low, which proves that the city is safe.