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WUHAN, China: Nervous residents of Wuhan’s Chinese pandemic epicenter queued up across the city to test for COVID-19 on Thursday (May 14) after a new group of cases triggered a mass detection campaign.
The ranks of residents who kept their social distance formed at makeshift testing sites set up under tents in parking lots, parks and residential communities as rain fell on the metropolis of 11 million people.
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“This is a good thing. It is a way of being responsible to others and to yourself,” a 40-year-old man told AFP after completing the process.
The man had already been evaluated 10 days before, but given Wuhan’s history as the source of the virus and the most affected city in China, he received a little more security.
“If you have the chance, wouldn’t you do it again?” I ask.
READ: Wuhan to test entire population after new COVID-19 group
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The previously unknown contagion emerged in Wuhan in late 2019, prompting the Chinese government to impose a strict city shutdown on January 23, isolating the industrial and transportation hub from the rest of the country and confining residents to their homes. .
According to government figures, more than 3,800 people died from COVID-19 in the city, accounting for the vast majority of deaths in China.
The quarantine was completely lifted in early April, and life is slowly returning to normal.
But Wuhan received a new shake-up when several new local infections emerged last weekend after more than a month in which none were reported.
READ: China’s Wuhan reports the first COVID-19 cluster since the blockade was lifted
Fearful of reliving the virus nightmare, officials have launched a campaign to test nucleic acid on the entire population of the city.
Men, women, children and the elderly appeared before medical workers in white head-to-toe suits and plastic face shields, who recorded their personal data before quickly placing a swab on the back of their throats.
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Some remained anxious.
“I know that this plan that requires the city to do large-scale testing serves as basic protection. I was not planning to test myself,” said one woman who did not give her name.
“But the security measures inside are really bad. (People) are too close, and the person who performed the test handled a lot of samples of people, but I didn’t see him wash his hands.”
China has largely controlled the new coronavirus, but has recently been on the brink of a possible second wave of infections as it has lifted blockades and restrictions across the country.
In addition to Wuhan’s six new cases, virus clusters have emerged in recent weeks in the northeast Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces, which border Russia.
President Xi Jinping said at a meeting of Communist Party leaders on Thursday that containment measures must be stepped up in Jilin, Heilongjiang and Wuhan “to prevent the resurgence of infections,” according to the official Xinhua news agency.
“We should never allow our hard-earned previous achievements in epidemic control to be done in vain,” Xi said.
With the appearance of the virus in other nations, China has prohibited the majority of foreigners from entering the country.
Despite persistent concerns, Wuhan residents, affected by the pandemic, have done their best to resume their lives.
Dozens of people stepped on the heels of Chinese folk music on a walk along the Yangtze River on Wednesday night, ignoring the concerns of a new wave.
Couples with skipped masks under the streetlights, with the men guiding the women in turn near a bridge lit with huge Chinese characters that say “Go Wuhan.”
“I am very happy (to be dancing outside),” said Qiu Jumei, a 53-year-old hotel waitress.
“The atmosphere was not the same when I was at home and dancing alone. It was not fun,” she added. “This is much better.”
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