According to Chinese state media, the city of Wuhan is set to test its entire population of 11 million people for COVID-19. All the districts have been asked to submit plans as to how the testing could be carried out in 10 days. The news comes as Wuhan, which is said to be the place where the virus first emerged, recorded around six new cases – no new cases had been recorded there since April 3rd.

On the 8th of April, the city which had been under lockdown for 11 weeks was starting to re-open and it seemed that things were finally getting back to normal. Businesses slowly lifted their shutters and public transport resumed but now, it appears that the nightmare is far from over.

The Paper circulated a report that showed how each district was asked to draw up a 10-day testing plan. The administrators were also informed that older people and densely populated communities should be prioritised. However, the Global Times quotes multiple senior health officials as saying that such a plan – to test 11 million people – would be unfeasible and highly expensive.