After the reported flattening of coronavirus cases, the city of Wuhan had experienced six new cases of the virus during the weekend. The reports are the city's first positives after 35 days of being free from the infection.
While being of local origin, the country plans to find the source of the spread immediately by mass testing the entire city of Wuhan in just 10 days, as reported by CNN. The authorities have approved the use of nucleic acid tests.
A more effective testing method
According to Spectrum, nucleic acid tests will reportedly work by detecting the virus' genetic code, increasing its effectiveness against the infection, even more so during the initial stages.
The endeavor has been dubbed as a "ten-day battle," which seeks to test the city's population of 11 million people.
The city has recently lifted its 76-day lockdown on April 8, where it experienced 35 days free of new coronavirus cases.
China has considered Wuhan its poster child in its effective response to the coronavirus infection, acting like a phoenix and emerging from the ashes of lockdown.
The virus resurfacing has caused the local government several problems. On Monday, the chief official of Changqing, Zhang Yuxin, was reported by the state media to have been removed from his position for "failures in epidemic prevention and control work."
As there have been no new cases since Tuesday, any increase in positive tests will question the city's previous numbers. This is already with officials of the country being accused of downplaying the severity of COVID-19.
Wuhan, however, is not the only city in China that had reported having new cases of the coronavirus as the city of Shulan in the province of Jilin in the Northeastern part of China was placed under "wartime control mode" on Sunday after the area found 11 new cases of the pandemic.
Other countries facing an imminent second wave
In the neighboring country of South Korea, however, authorities have forced more than 2,000 clubs and bars to once again shut down after a new set of more than 100 coronavirus cases reportedly came from Itaewon, as reported by CBS.
Seoul had received more than 8,000 police officers to track nearly 11,000 people in the area by utilizing mobile phone data and credit card transactions to pinpoint their locations.
Leading epidemiologist Dr. Jerome Kim explains that the endeavor was made to prevent the 119 infected people from spreading the disease once again, undermining the massive effort that was placed into eradicating the initial pandemic.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan says that the country is currently on the path to eradicating the virus's grasp on its citizens. Government officials are planning to lift the national state of emergency in as soon as Thursday for most of the nation's areas, which is two weeks before their initially set expiry of May 31.
On the other hand, the city of Tokyo will continue with its current condition as it has been the worst-hit among Japan's cities, with almost a third of the country's infections found in the city.
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