China to boost COVID-19 testing

China will further expand the coverage of nucleic acid testing to enable early detection of asymptomatic COVID-19 cases as the country faces persistent risks of clusters of infections, according to a statement released after a meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday.

The country cannot afford any complacency in dealing with the risks of clusters of infections and its considerable number of asymptomatic patients, despite having managed to bring the pandemic under effective control, the leading novel coronavirus response group of the Communist Party of China Central Committee said after the meeting.

The group urged reinforced epidemiological research on infected cases to discover sources of infection and cut off transmission paths, saying that weak areas in containment in communities, hospitals and in nucleic acid testing capacities must be strengthened quickly.

Strict medical management measures must be adopted for asymptomatic cases, and they must be treated as confirmed cases immediately if they start showing symptoms, the group said.

Local authorities must take stringent measures to prevent clusters of infections and to ensure the effective operation of normalized containment mechanisms that can facilitate rapid response and effective medical treatment, it added.

The statement also called for unremitting ventilation, sterilization, body temperature taking and social distancing measures in venues with gatherings of people, especially schools.

Participants also heard a report that evaluated epidemic containment measures adopted during the five-day May Day holiday, when China recorded 121 million passenger trips and 115 million visits to tourist attractions after travel restrictions were relaxed in most areas.

The report found that the measures achieved positive outcomes while consumer spending on dining and accommodation recovered substantially.

The effective measures have helped accumulate experience in epidemic containment and expanding the scope of reopenings for future holidays and scenarios with large-scale gatherings, the group said.

It emphasized that normalized containment steps must be further refined to enable across-the-board reopenings in the life services sector and to meet public demand.

It also called for steps to ensure the annual meetings of the top legislative and political advisory bodies－the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee－starting on Friday and Thursday respectively, proceed safely and smoothly, with the adoption of sound epidemic prevention and control measures.