Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei Province and the city hit hardest by the COVID-19 epidemic, said on Monday that all 300 asymptomatic carriers discovered in the latest citywide tests showed negative viral culture test results. The findings were a loud declaration of the city's glorious victory against the virus after months of tough battles as they proved that the city is just as safe as other parts of China and another large-scale community infection is very unlikely to occur anywhere in the country, Chinese chief epidemiologist said on Tuesday.
Wuhan health officials took sputum and throat swabs from 300 asymptomatic carriers and then isolated and cultured the "virus" from the samples at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The results found no "live virus" in the samples.
Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Global Times on Tuesday that this indicated that the viral loads and levels were either extremely low or that there was no presence of any "live virus" within the pathogensis of the samples taken.
Officials also ran tests on toothbrushes, cups, masks, towels, and other personal items used by the infected patients, and found that they tested negative. All 1,174 close contacts of the patients tested negative, which experts said proved that the city's silent carriers are not contagious any more.
"Wuhan's scientific and profound probe into the group of carriers is innovative and valuable, and will help us better understand the course of the COVID-19," Wu said.
It is reasonable to conclude that the city is "very safe, just as safe as other parts of the country," and with sound and complete epidemic control and prevention measures that China has established and constantly improved, "another large-scale community infection is very unlikely to occur anywhere in the country, despite individual imported cases," Wu noted.
