We’re closing out November with some encouraging news. Some of us may soon not be experiencing a daily swab around the inside our mouths. That’s the lead story on Chinese media today; no more tests every day, but only for certain groups of people.
As all are now aware, in Nanjing it is now mandatory to produce evidence of a negative-COVID-test result before taking the Metro, or for entering many large public places. Numerous others, such as large office buildings also operate such a policy.
This of course means lots of test, daily in fact these days. But today’s news is that some cities are in the process of making select people exempt, reports The Paper.
China is proud of its “science-based” COVID prevention. In this case, however, it’s not exactly rocket science; it’s just plain sense.
The thinking is if people are remaining at home or not taking public transport, then there is no need to do repeated testing.
Hence the news came this morning that Beijing, Guangzhou, Zhengzhou and other places have adjusted their nucleic-acid-testing policies. There, it is now no longer necessary the socially inactive, including long-term home-based seniors, online students and those working from home, to participate in daily testing.
Elsewhere, CCTV News earlier quoted the Taiyuan Municipal Education Bureau in Shanxi Province as saying that students who have online classes need not be tested every day, provided they do not need to go out.
There was also praise for the new policy from citizens of Ha’erbin, reported the official WeChat account for Heilongjiang Media Life Daily, “New Street School Life News” (新街派 生活报).
And the Municipality of Chongqing has even gone a step further. There, at the 150th press conference made by local epidemic prevention and control on 26 November, Li Pan, Deputy Director of the Chongqing Municipal Health Commission, introduced their special demonstration study.
Under the experimental policy, so called “epidemic-free residential compounds” (无疫小区) and “epidemic-free communities” (无疫社区) were not required to participate in the Municipality’s recent three rounds testing.
In the cities where they are being rolled out, the new policies are going to undoubtedly put quite a dent in the length of queues for testing, something we would all like to see in Nanjing sooner rather than later.
