300 asymptomatic, after Wuhan-wide tests – Reuters

There has been news circulating earlier today that Wuhan has tested 9.89 million people and found 300 asymptomatic patients, accounting for 0.00303 per cent of the total tested population, said Lu Zuxun, a public health professor at Huazhong University of Science and Technology.

Reuters reported that there have been no new cases of people suffering from COVID-19 after testing almost its entire population. Authorities launched the vast testing campaign on May 14, and reached 9.9 million out of 11 million people, after a cluster of new cases raised fears of a second wave of infections.

Key notes

China does not count people who are infected with the virus but do not show symptoms of the disease as confirmed cases.

Officials told reporters in a briefing that there had been no new confirmed cases, and said the asymptomatic carriers had been found not to be infectious; masks, toothbrushes, phones, door handles and elevator buttons that they touched had no traces of virus.

The central city, capital of Hubei province, was placed under a lockdown on Jan. 23. It was lifted on April 8.

Wuhan was the hardest hit Chinese city and accounts for the majority of the 4,634 deaths and 83,022 infections reported in mainland China.

The cost of the city-wide testing effort was about 900 million yuan ($126 million).

The northeastern city of Mudanjiang in Heilongjiang province will also launch city-wide virus testing, the local government said on its website, after finding over a dozen asymptomatic cases.

Market implications

Whether the data can be relied upon, the fact that the virus is still out there means that there is a risk of a second deadly wave. For the time being, markets are content that governments are seeking to get the world economy back on track. The worlds largest economy, the US, its virus cases have risen 1.2%, matching average over the past week raising prospects that the virus is peaking.