Wuhan is believed to be the site of the corona virus pandemic. The Chinese metropolis has the highest number of infections and deaths in China. Mass tests have now brought surprising insights.
Wuhan (dpa) - Half a year after the first infections with the coronavirus in Wuhan, there are hardly any people infected in the central Chinese city.
In two-week mass tests of almost ten million citizens, only 300 asymptomatic infections with the Sars CoV-2 pathogen were found, said Lu Zuxun, medical professor at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, according to the Xinhua news agency.
The infected people and 1,174 close contacts had been isolated and were under medical surveillance. The professor described the proportion of these asymptomatic people among the population as "extremely low". It was also not found that these people infected others.
9.89 million people had been tested since mid-May. With the infection rate, there are now only three asymptomatic cases per 100,000 inhabitants, while life in the metropolis has at least slowly returned to normal since the beginning of April. However, further precautionary measures have been taken. In the beginning, many people did not dare to come out again.
The city is considered the place of origin of the pandemic. The first cases of the previously mysterious new lung disease were discovered in the metropolis in early December. Wuhan was also hit hardest by the outbreak in China. Back then, thousands had overrun the completely overcrowded hospitals. Many may have been infected in the first place.
Although doctors in Wuhan had already found out in December that the virus was transmitted from person to person, the Chinese health authorities only confirmed this direct risk of infection on January 21. From January 23, the provincial capital was finally sealed off from the outside world for 76 days - an unprecedented measure until then.
This was followed by 15 other surrounding metropolises in the province of Hubei, leaving around 60 million people isolated for weeks. Since then, China has largely got a grip on lung disease. Of the 4634 officially reported deaths from lung disease Covid-19 nationwide, 3869 were in Wuhan alone.
The mass test campaign had also been arranged to reassure the people of Wuhan that the city was indeed safe again while factories, shops, and schools were reopening, the Xinhua State Agency wrote.
People's newspaper, Chinese
