Praiseworthy policy of improving testing efficiency

The State Council, China’s Cabinet, issued a notice on Friday that pushes local governments to recognize each other’s nucleic acid test results, and it is strictly forbidden to restrict people from entering public places or take public transport under the excuse that their nucleic acid tests are not done by a local agency.

Nucleic acid tests are an essential tool for the pandemic control mechanism to find infections quickly. The majority of domestic cities have normalized test taking. However, it remains a problem that each city has its own test agencies and some cities only recognize their own test results, requiring visitors to receive local tests upon their arrival.

That practice not only wastes resources, but also causes inconvenience to travelers, who often have to stay in isolation until they get their local test results. For those on business trips, that will only lower their efficiency and make their companies suffer.

Worse, some truck drivers who drive from one place to another often meet the problem of being required to do nucleic acid tests upon their arrival and wait in isolation until the results are obtained. The efficiency of logistics is lowered, while the cost is increased, which increases cost of living for everybody.

That’s why the State Council’s move is praiseworthy: By targeting at a detail of social governance, it will improve the efficiency of the whole society and benefit all.

That’s also why the quick responses of some places are praiseworthy too. On Saturday morning, Beijing had already responded to the new policy by allowing local residents to search for their non-local nucleic acid test results via the city’s health kit and upload them. That shows there is no technological barrier to the implementation of the new policy.

It is vacation season now, which means a potential boost to the economy via consumption. Local governments should implement the policy as quickly as possible.