WUHAN: Nervous residents of China’s pandemic epicentre of Wuhan queued up across the city to be tested for the coronavirus on Thursday after a new cluster of cases sparked a mass screening campaign.

Lines of socially distanced people formed at makeshift testing sites set up under tents in parking lots, parks and residential communities as it rained in the metropolis of 11 million people.

“This is a good thing. It’s a way to be responsible towards others and to yourself,” a 40-year-old man said after completing the process.

He had already been tested 10 days before but given Wuhan’s history as the source of the virus and China’s worst-hit city, he welcomed a little extra insurance. The man added: “If you have the opportunity, wouldn’t you do it again?”

The previously unknown contagion emerged in Wuhan late last year, prompting the Chinese government to impose a tight lockdown on the city on January 23, isolating the industrial and transport centre from the rest of the country and confining residents to their homes.

More than 3,800 people have died from Covid-19 in the city, accounting for the vast majority of fatalities in China. The quarantine was only fully lifted in early April, and life is returning to normal.

Published in Dawn, May 15th, 2020