It is quite a symbol. Wuhan, the Chinese city where Covid-19 appeared at the end of 2019, will re-examine all its inhabitants after the discovery of some cases, local authorities announced on Tuesday.
This Monday, three new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in the metropolis of 11 million inhabitants, caught in turn by an outbreak of the Delta strain that appeared last month in the east of the country. Previous cases of Covid registered in the city date back to May 2020.
The city on the banks of the Yangtze “is rapidly launching a widespread PCR test of all its inhabitants,” Li Tao, a city council official, announced at a press conference.
In total, seven workers from other provinces tested positive for Covid-19, authorities said Monday. Four of them, however, have no symptoms of the disease. China, which virtually eradicated the epidemic in spring 2020, has faced the most widespread resurgence of the virus since last year for a few weeks.
However, with at least 300 new infections confirmed in total in July across the country, this increase in contamination remains very limited compared to the numbers recorded in other countries. But this approach is important in terms of geographical extent: More than a dozen provinces are now affected, as well as Beijing, the capital, which on Sunday asked its inhabitants not to leave the city unless there is compelling reason.