Crucial go-to person during testing times

“Testing site chief” has become the toast of Beijing, which is carrying out three rounds of nucleic acid testing on its residents.

The official is empowered to coordinate and arrange for personnel and materials for epidemic prevention and control at every testing site.

Nucleic acid testing is being carried out in Chaoyang, Dongcheng, Xicheng, Haidian, Fengtai, Shijingshan, Fangshan, Tongzhou, Shunyi, Changping and Daxing districts and economic and technological development zones from Monday to Saturday.

The designation was first introduced in January 2021, when every sampling site in Beijing was assigned a special person to serve as chief.

This kind of arrangement has set up a “responsibility chain” for epidemic prevention and control and ensured that the testing is carried out in an efficient and orderly manner.

Beijing is at a critical juncture in its fight against the latest wave of the novel coronavirus.

Only by conducting nucleic acid tests in a timely manner to screen out infected people can the transmission chains of the virus be broken at the earliest.

Carrying out tests on such a massive scale requires coordination between various personnel to arrange for materials, and even a slight oversight can push the entire system haywire, trigger controversies, and upset the overall fight against the pandemic.

The testing site chief looks into every aspect of nucleic acid testing, from site construction, material storage, order maintenance, on-site dispatching, and even emergency response.

The chief also ensures that the epidemic prevention and control command system has a wide coverage at the grassroots level, creating a more secure environment for the general public to participate in nucleic acid testing.

Such an innovative idea, as the creation of a testing site chief, can also be used as reference point for the day-to-day working of the government in the future, thus helping refine governance at the grassroots level so it better serves the people.