Wuhan to test all residents as COVID cases emerge after a year

Wuhan city in Central China's Hubei province on Tuesday announced that it will test the city's entire population of 11 million for the coronavirus virus in wake of the recent surge in COVID-19 cases.

The city, which reported the first case of COVID-19 in late 2019, has also upgraded its epidemic response measure, locking down the area where local COVID-19 infections have been reported while upgrading its risk levels, Chinese state media Global Times reported.

Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei province, reported seven local COVID-19 cases on Monday. The city has reported zero local infections since June 2020.

All schools and tutorial institutions have been asked to suspend offline classes and strengthen campus health monitoring, meanwhile speeding up the vaccination for teachers and students, local authorities announced on Tuesday.

The city's metro has reinforced stricter COVID-19 rules, including a mandatory on wearing masks, measuring body temperature, and checking health codes. Several stations near the Zhuankou neighbourhood are temporarily closed.

The announcement comes after the tourist destination of Zhangjiajie in central China's Hunan province as well as nearby Zhuzhou city-issued similar orders in recent days to more than two million people combined.

China reported 61 domestic cases on Tuesday as an outbreak of the fast-spreading Delta variant reached dozens of cities.

As the new COVID-19 cases have been reported in at least 18 Chinese provinces, experts in the country have raised alarm due to the latest outbreak in the country fuelled by the spread of the Delta variant.

Chinese public health officials on Sunday said the ongoing outbreak is the most serious one since the initial outbreak in Wuhan, Global Times reported. The experts said more efforts are needed to plug the loopholes in the infection control work while stressing the need to advance the mass vaccination drive.

Epidemiologists in the country evaluated that the latest outbreaks are still in the early stages and insist that the situation is under control. However, the disease specialist has expressed concern over the latest outbreak in Zhangjiajie city.