Nucleic acid testing plan to be expanded

All hospitals to have capability by end of the year

All tertiary and secondary general hospitals across the country will be capable of nucleic acid testing for the novel coronavirus before the end of the year, according to a plan released to improve testing for the virus and coping with Covid-19.

Tertiary general hospitals and certain institutions, such as hospitals specialised in infectious diseases and centres for disease control and prevention at all levels should be able to conduct sampling and testing for the novel coronavirus before the end of

September, according to the plan released on Monday by the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council.

Hospitals in China are generally categorised into three tiers. Tier three hospitals are the most sophisticated with multiple departments.

Tier two hospitals are medium-sized and usually also have a number of departments. Tier one hospitals are small and primarily are sought out for general health conditions.

In addition to tertiary general hospitals, which will serve as bases for novel coronavirus testing, 100 mobile testing labs across China will be completed by the end of the year.

Each of the labs will be able to handle 10,000 virus samples each day, so a million tests can be conducted a day by the mobile labs, the plan said.

Local authorities nationwide should also intensify efforts to train nucleic acid testing professionals, and all such professionals should complete training before the end of the September.