Wuhan ordered to test 11 million residents in 10 days as Beijing fights to stop COVID's "Round 2"

After discovering 6 new coronavirus infections in Wuhan after a calm month, the city's 11 million health officials and the epicenter of the epidemic, which is still in the "normalization" process after a shutdown 70 days that started in January, they struggle to assess all the inhabitants of the city in just 10 days.

Some local media call it the "ten day battle", while most recognize that few expect officials to manage 11 million tests in ten days. Currently, the majority of tests performed daily around the world are 20,000 per day in South Korea. At this rate, it would take approximately 18 months to assess as many people. The city would need to screen around 750,000 people a day to reach this goal.

Although it certainly seems impossible, long lines wind around the street corners as locals line up, sometimes for hours, at designated test stations where healthcare workers administer free outdoor tests according to the New York Times and AFP

Videos showing the lines have been circulating on social media in the United States. United States After crossing the big firewall.

Wait in line to get tested in Wuhan. The entire city of 11 million inhabitants is examined over a period of 10 days. pic.twitter.com/UiEMry9Hr4

– Ananth Krishnan (@ananthkrishnan) May 15, 2020

The lines showed hundreds of people lined up at once …

Hundreds of residents of the Chinese city of Wuhan are lining up in hospitals to test COVID-19, as a wave of new infections threatens a second stop. pic.twitter.com/FrVmelzvCn

– Reuters (@Reuters) May 14, 2020

… raising questions about current capacity, which appears to be well above the peak reached in the depths of the crisis, according to several Western journalists. Below "extreme circumstances" However, in the past, Wuhan managed to perform 100,000 tests in one day.

An employee who answered the phone on a phone line established by the mayor of Wuhan said the tests would be done in stages. Some neighborhoods would start earlier than others, but each plans to complete the assessment of its residents within 10 days, said the person.

Wuhan, by far the most affected Chinese city, has reported more than 50,000 infections and 3,800 deaths since the start of the epidemic. One of the main objectives of the tests would be to identify infected people without symptoms, who can still transmit the virus.
According to government notices on social media, at least seven neighborhoods in Wuhan said the tests would start on Wednesday.

Party officials have stepped up propaganda to urge people to get tested as soon as possible.

"A nucleic acid test is your responsibility to yourself, your family and society," read a publication from the Changqing Garden District Committee No. 2. "Please support and cooperate."

Of course, while many locals have complained, others have praised the government, calling the driving test "good", even if they thought it could be excessive.

"It is a good thing. It is a way of being responsible to others and to yourself," a 40-year-old man told AFP.

In the test areas, the authorities erected rows of tents and installed folding tables and stools. Social media posts showed on Wednesday that dozens of residents were lining up for medical staff to take nose or throat samples wearing safety glasses and coveralls.

District opinions shared on social media urged residents to stay away from each other and spread the word about the tests, so as to "leave no one behind". The tests are free for all residents, part of the basic health care coverage in China for all.

However, some have argued that the test drive was not just "excessive", warning that it could actively harm public health and worsen the epidemic.

An expert who spoke with the NYT said he was concerned that more people would get infected by standing in long queues while waiting to be tested, which makes massive effort not only useless, but also damaging.

One local complained that "the security measures inside are really bad. (People) are too close and the test taker has handled many samples of people, but I don't Haven't seen him wash his hands. "