Abstract

Stringent COVID-19 control measures were imposed in Wuhan between January 23 and April 8, 2020. Estimates of the prevalence of infection following the release of restrictions could inform post-lockdown pandemic management. Here, we describe a city-wide SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid screening programme between May 14 and June 1, 2020 in Wuhan. All city residents aged six years or older were eligible and 9,899,828 (92.9%) participated. No new symptomatic cases and 300 asymptomatic cases (detection rate 0.303/10,000, 95% CI 0.270–0.339/10,000) were identified. There were no positive tests amongst 1,174 close contacts of asymptomatic cases. 107 of 34,424 previously recovered COVID-19 patients tested positive again (re-positive rate 0.31%, 95% CI 0.423–0.574%). The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Wuhan was therefore very low five to eight weeks after the end of lockdown.

Large-scale population screening can provide insights to levels of ongoing SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Here, the authors report a citywide screening of ~10,000,000 residents of Wuhan and show that SARS-CoV-2 infection prevalence was very low five to eight weeks after the end of lockdown.

Details

Title
Post-lockdown SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid screening in nearly ten million residents of Wuhan, China
Author
Cao Shiyi 1 ; Gan Yong 1 ; Wang, Chao 1 ; Bachmann, Max 2 ; Shanbo, Wei 3 ; Gong Jie 4 ; Huang Yuchai 1 ; Wang, Tiantian 1 ; Li, Liqing 5 ; Lu, Kai 6 ; Jiang, Heng 7 ; Gong Yanhong 1 ; Xu, Hongbin 1 ; Shen, Xin 1 ; Tian Qingfeng 8 ; Lv Chuanzhu 9 ; Song Fujian 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Yin Xiaoxv 1 ; Lu Zuxun 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

1  Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Department of Social Medicine and Health Management, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Wuhan, China (GRID:grid.33199.31) (ISNI:0000 0004 0368 7223) 
2  University of East Anglia, Norwich Medical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, Norwich, UK (GRID:grid.8273.e) (ISNI:0000 0001 1092 7967) 
3  Wuhan Municipal Health Commission, Wuhan, China (GRID:grid.508241.a) 
4  Wuhan Centre for Clinical Laboratory, Wuhan, China (GRID:grid.508241.a) 
5  Jiangxi Science and Technology Normal University, Department of Management Science and Engineering, School of Economics and Management, Nanchang, China (GRID:grid.411864.e) 
6  Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Tongji Hospital, Wuhan, China (GRID:grid.33199.31) (ISNI:0000 0004 0368 7223) 
7  La Trobe University, Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, School of Psychology and Public Health, Melbourne, Australia (GRID:grid.1018.8) (ISNI:0000 0001 2342 0938); University of Melbourne, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, Melbourne, Australia (GRID:grid.1008.9) (ISNI:0000 0001 2179 088X) 
8  School of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China (GRID:grid.207374.5) (ISNI:0000 0001 2189 3846) 
9  The Second Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University, Department of Emergency, Hainan Clinical Research Centre for Acute and Critical Diseases, Haikou, China (GRID:grid.443397.e) (ISNI:0000 0004 0368 7493) 
Publication year
2020
Publication date
2020
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20411723
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19802-w
ProQuest document ID
2471574325
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. corrected publication 2020. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.