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Authorities in the Chinese city where the coronavirus pandemic began were moving ahead on Wednesday with their efforts to screen the virus for its 11 million residents within 10 days of a handful of new cases.
For his part, the leading infectious diseases expert from the United States government issued a severe warning, noting that cities and states could register an uptick in deaths from covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, and more economic problems if they raise confinement orders too quickly. His position contrasts with that of President Donald Trump, who is pushing to straighten a free-falling economy.
“There is a real risk of triggering an outbreak that may not be controllable,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told a Senate committee and the nation on Tuesday, as more than two dozen states began easing their quarantines.
The tension to find the balance between protecting the population against the virus and the harsh economic consequences is experienced in many other countries. Italy partially lifted the restrictions last week and saw a huge increase in confirmed coronavirus cases in its worst affected region. Pakistan reported 2,000 new infections in a single day for the first time since the relief of the measures, which led to people crowding markets across the country.
China, the first nation to quarantine much of its population and the first to ease restrictions, has kept a close watch for any outbreaks.
District health commissions and neighborhood committees in Wuhan City have been tasked with developing a plan to test all citizens in their jurisdictions, local media reported. The directive pointed out that the tests should focus on the elderly, in densely populated areas and in places with mobile populations.
A person who answered the Wuhan hotline on Wednesday explained that local districts have 10 days to carry out the tests. The official declined to identify himself because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.
The first cases of new coronaviruses were detected in Wuhan in December, and by the end of January the government had placed the entire city and the adjacent region, with a total population of more than 50 million people, under strict quarantine.
An outbreak with six new cases was recently detected in one part of the city, the first government-reported local infections in Wuhan since before the relief of the measures in early April.
It was unclear how many people should be screened, as an expert from Wuhan University told the Global Times newspaper that up to 5 million residents in the city had passed them since the start of the outbreak.
Worldwide, the virus has infected more than 4.2 million people and killed more than 291,000 – with more than 82,000 deaths in the United States alone, the place with the most deaths in the world. Experts say the actual numbers are likely to be much higher.
Progress was being made in many places, including New Zealand, which reported no new cases on Wednesday for the second day in a row, and the fourth since last week.
South Korean authorities said on Wednesday they had no immediate plans to revive social distancing rules despite an increase in cases involving nightclubs in Seoul.
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