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Over the weekend, six new cases were reported in the city, the first on 35 consecutive days. None of the new cases were imported from abroad, raising concerns that the infection may still be spreading in the city where the virus is believed to have first emerged.
In response to the outbreak, Wuhan authorities will conduct nucleic acid tests throughout the city over a 10-day period, according to an emergency notice issued by local authorities and distributed by state-run media outlet The Paper.
Nucleic acid tests work by detecting the genetic code of the virus and may be more effective in detecting infection, particularly in the early stages, than tests that examine a body’s immune response, although the latter are easier to perform.
The ambitious screening campaign, described in the report as a “ten-day battle,” could see as many as 11 million people tested.
Wuhan was the first city in the world to enter the closure and a great effort has been made in an attempt to eliminate the virus.
The city has gradually returned to normal after the 76-day forced lockout was lifted on April 8, with residents finally allowed out, though many businesses remain closed.
However, despite the ongoing pain and economic trauma, Wuhan had been portrayed as a secondary element of China’s effective response to the pandemic, emerging “like a phoenix,” in the words of a state-backed newspaper.
The resurgence of the virus has already had ramifications for the local government. State media reported on Monday that Zhang Yuxin, the official chief of Changqing, the area where the new cases were detected, was removed from his post “due to failures in the work of epidemic prevention and control.”
While no new cases of the virus were reported in Wuhan until Tuesday, any significant increase in the number as a result of the new tests will cast serious doubt on the accuracy and transparency of the city’s previous figures. Officials already face allegations of covering up the severity of the virus in the early stages of the pandemic, and confusion over China’s national figures has been created by various changes in diagnostic and reporting procedures.
Wuhan is also not the only part of the country where new cases have been detected. The city of Shulan in Jilin province in the far northeast of the country was put into “war control mode” on Sunday after 11 people were confirmed to be infected with the virus.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea, previously believed to be largely above the virus, has also faced a setback this week, with a group of new cases detected in Seoul. The country’s President Moon Jae-in said Sunday that the fight against the coronavirus “will not end until it ends.”
CNN’s Steven Jiang and Shanshan Wang contributed to the reports.
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