China has began to manage COVID-19 with measures designed for combating Class B infectious diseases from Sunday, instead of Class A infectious diseases.
In recent months, the country has made an array of active adjustments in its COVID response, ranging from 20 measures in November, 10 new measures in December, changing the Chinese term for COVID-19 from “novel coronavirus pneumonia” to “novel coronavirus infection,” and downgrading COVID-19 management measures.
China released its 10th edition of COVID-19 control protocol Saturday, highlighting vaccination and personal protection.
Considering factors including the development of the epidemic, the increase in vaccination levels, and extensive epidemic prevention experience, the country entered a new phase of COVID response.
The focus of China’s new phase of COVID-19 response is on protecting people’s health and preventing severe cases, the State Council joint COVID-19 prevention and control mechanism team said at a news conference Sunday.
The protocol encourages the public, especially the elderly, to take the initiative to get fully vaccinated and take booster shots. It also stresses good hygiene habits such as washing hands frequently and wearing masks to strengthen personal protection.
Mass nucleic acid testing will no longer be carried out, but antigen or nucleic acid testing will be conducted for relevant people seeking medical treatment and inpatients at hospitals, staff or care recipients at aged care facilities and social welfare institutions, and people at high risk of serious illness in communities, says the protocol.
Quarantine measures against people with a COVID-19 infection will be dropped, and their close contacts will no longer be identified, said experts from the State Council joint COVID-19 prevention and control mechanism team, adding that the designating of high-risk and low-risk areas will be stopped.
Amid China’s efforts to improve its preparedness, authorities have urged hospitals of various levels to ensure that fever clinics are available to patients in need.
From coordinating medical resources to increasing the capacity of hospitals to receive severe cases, hospitals across the country have been operating in full swing and devoting more resources to the treatment of severe cases.
Official data showed that as of Dec. 25, 2022, there were a total of 181,000 intensive care beds in China, up by 31,000 or 20.67% compared with Dec. 13.
A multi-pronged approach has been adopted to meet people’s needs for drugs. Speeding up the review of much-needed medical products, the National Medical Products Administration had, as of Dec. 20, 2022, granted marketing authorization to 11 drugs for COVID-19 treatment.
Through optimizing prevention and control measures, China has been injecting vitality into its economy.
The GDP for 2022 is estimated to exceed 120 trillion yuan (US$17.52 trillion). The fundamentals for economic resilience, potential, vitality, and long-term growth have not changed.