New approach to COVID in China
China’s approach to covid — which has emphasized widespread testing and quarantining positive cases in specialized facilities — should shift from “passive detection” to “active prevention,” with home recovery for cases mild.
Gu said the infectious disease arm of the Chinese Association of Chinese Medicine, which she heads, had reached a consensus to change the way they describe the virus.
Among the measures announced are the end of systematic and large-scale PCR tests, the possibility of isolating at home for less serious cases of covid and a more contained use of confinements.
Nor will a negative test of the last 24 hours be required to travel between provinces, but it will be required to enter restaurants and cafes.
It also changed the discourse of the authorities, who underline the less harmful nature of the omicron variant. And the expression “zero covid” gradually disappears from his vocabulary.
But changing habits takes time.
On Thursday, although the number of people in the PCR test centers scattered around Beijing decreased, there were still inhabitants queuing for about 10 minutes on average.
“I came to take a test because someone in my office tested positive. I hope I didn’t catch the covid,” Chen Min, 28, told AFP.
With information from AFP and Reuters
