The Hiroshima Prefectural Government in western Japan said Friday it is considering conducting free coronavirus testing of up to 800,000 people in the largest such testing campaign in the country, as it struggles to contain a recent rise in infections.
The voluntary polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing will target all residents and workers in the heart of the city of Hiroshima, where the virus situation is deemed to be at Stage 4, the worst level on the central government's four-point scale, it said.
The prefectural capital with a population of about 1.2 million has recently seen an explosive spread of coronavirus infections. The cumulative total has reached 2,900 cases in the city.