China has launched a major epidemiological survey of the novel coronavirus across nine different parts of the country, state media reported on Wednesday. The survey will be the first globally to cover such a large geographical region, although the total number of people to be tested is unclear.

Epidemiologists worldwide have been calling for random surveys in order to get a more representative view of the spread of the virus than different countries' treatment programs currently offer, given that only a fraction of the total infected population may ever visit a hospital for testing.

China Daily reported that Wuhan, the city where the global outbreak began, will test residents randomly. The nationwide survey is to "evaluate the scale of asymptomatic infections and immunity levels across the population", China Daily said.