Wuhan sounds new virus alarm

Wuhan authorities plan to conduct Covid-19 tests on the city's entire population after new cases emerged for the first time in weeks in the cradle of the global pandemic.

Officials were told to submit plans immediately to administer nucleic acid tests on all 11 million residents.

Every district should carry out the tests within 10 days, an official notice stated, though it was unclear when testing would begin.

The action follows the first cluster of new Covid-19 infections surfacing since the city was reopened on April 8 after a 76-day lockdown.

At least six new cases were reported on Sunday and Monday from a residential compound in Dongxihu district.

But Wu Zunyou, the chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, argued that it was "not necessary" for every person in Wuhan to be tested.

"Neighborhoods without any cases don't need to screen every person," Wu said. Instead, large-scale screening should focus on "key jobs" and other criteria.

The mainland has largely brought the virus under control, but officials have been on edge about being hit by a second wave after the lifting of lockdowns and restrictions across the country.

Virus clusters have appeared in recent weeks in the northeastern provinces of Jilin and Heilongjiang, which border Russia.

And China has barred most foreigners from entering the country.

Wuhan has reported 3,869 deaths since the novel coronavirus emerged there in December, accounting for most fatalities in China.

Scientists believe the virus jumped from animals to humans at a city market selling wildlife.

In Russia, meanwhile, five people died in a fire yesterday in a hospital for coronavirus sufferers in Saint Petersburg, with some victims attached to ventilators.

It was thought a short circuit in a ventilator system caused the blaze.

But 150 people were evacuated after the fire started on the sixth floor of the Saint George Hospital, which was repurposed to treat Covid-19 victims.

The country's Investigative Committee has launched a probe into the incident.