China’s Wuhan tests 12m in six days after emergence of the Delta variant
China’s Wuhan has completed citywide testing of some 12m residents for Covid-19 after just six days, to stamp out the emergence of the Delta strain.
The testing programme, which began on Tuesday and finished yesterday, provides “basically full coverage” of all residents excluding children under the age of six and students on their summer break, senior Wuhan official Li Tao said, according to the state-run news outlet Xinhua.
The latest bout of mass testing found 37 locally transmitted cases of Covid-19 and found 41 local asymptomatic carriers, Xinhua reported.
The city broke its year-long streak of zero domestic cases last week when it spotted seven locally transmitted infections of the original strain of Covid-19 and three cases of the Delta variant.
The Delta variant was first detected in Nanjing in late July and caused the city of some 9.3m people to enter a strict lockdown.
Chinese officials added that the variant most likely entered the city on a flight from Russia.
Wuhan, where Covid-19 first emerged, had not reported any cases since mid-May last year.
Authorities said they quickly mobilised more than 28,000 health workers at around 2,800 sites for the testing surge.