Universal testing every 48 hours in Hangzhou
The city of Hangzhou has adopted a frequent Covid-19 testing routine since Thursday to beat the highly transmissible Omicron variant, in line with the country’s “early detection” goal under its dynamic zero-Covid policy.
The provincial capital of eastern Zhejiang province and home to 12 million people has set up about 6,500 testing stations for residents and visitors to be PCR tested every 48 hours, according to local authorities.
From today, residents must show their test results to enter residential areas, offices, public transport, public venues and schools, it added. Those who enter the city should also be tested in the 48 hours before arriving.
Ying Xumin, deputy director of the Hangzhou health commission, said the frequent testing routine was key to detecting infections as early as possible and minimising the risk of spread in public venues.
“Hangzhou faces a severe risk of imported cases [from other parts of the country]. The Labour Day [five-day] holiday is around the corner and there will be more movement of people and gatherings.
“We launched the routine testing service to secure the hard-won results of Covid-19 control and maintain the normal operations of businesses and life in the city,” he said, adding that 7.4 million people were tested on Thursday alone.
Yesterday, the city reported seven new asymptomatic infections. One was an arrival from outside the city identified at the railway station and the rest were detected within local areas already under isolation.
Li Bin, vice-minister of the National Health Commission, yesterday said that the country aimed to act fast to beat the rapid transmission of the virus strain.
“The Omicron variant is highly infectious, transmits quickly and often unnoticed, and causes a high proportion of asymptomatic infections,” Li said. “[We] use both rapid antigen and PCR tests to identify infections as early as possible.”
He said that all local governments should stick to the dynamic zero-Covid policy and control outbreaks to avoid infections spilling over to other parts of the country.
“If certain places do not resolutely adhere to the policy … it might become the ‘transmitter’ and ‘magnifier’ of outbreaks, causing heavy loss of life and property and seriously affecting economic and social development,” he said. “We encourage local governments to improve precision in Covid-19 control to achieve the greatest results with the least cost.”
Beijing’s policy is to contain community outbreaks with strict preventive measures, despite much of the rest of the world embracing a live-with-the-virus mentality.
There have been calls from foreign businesses to resume international exchanges and ease pressure on the industrial and services sectors, both hit hard by the tough control measures.
The mainland’s insistence on zero-Covid has been controversial as people question the high cost of the social and economic disruption.
Huang Yanzhong, a senior fellow for global health at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations, said Hangzhou’s frequent testing routine used PCR tests, instead of at-home rapid antigen tests, so authorities could be sure of test results under a centralised system and could follow up with isolation orders.