China to Allow Rapid Tests to Confirm Covid Cases

The Tianjin-based biotech firm plans to produce 100 million doses of the vaccine designed to combat Omicron during the first phase of manufacturing, according to a company release posted to its social-media account late Thursday.

Taken together, the developments offer fresh signs of hope for China as it wrestles with its biggest Covid outbreak since the pandemic began roughly three years ago. China has been facing the pandemic without mRNA vaccines, which many scientists believe to be more effective in dealing with Covid, and has seen its hospitals and crematoria overrun as cases explode across the country.

China’s new approach to treating Covid took effect with the publication Friday of the 10th edition of the National Health Commission’s official guidelines on diagnosing and treating the virus. The previous edition was published in March, before China encountered its first major outbreak of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. It also follows a bevy of measures in November and December that signaled China’s biggest steps in three years to move beyond its zero-Covid regime.

The decision to allow antigen tests to confirm Covid infection comes as China winds down the widespread use of nucleic acid tests for diagnosing cases, as they grew to become a financial burden for local governments.

The new guidelines allow patients to be discharged from hospitals after their conditions have stabilized, rather than patients first having to obtain a negative test result. The move comes as the country struggles to fight the more easily transmissible Omicron variant that has filled up hospital emergency rooms.

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