China Demands Faster Testing Services Amid Latest COVID-19 Outbreak
NDTV
Frequent testing, and sometimes mass testing, is standard practice in China's containment of outbreaks in the past year, but health authorities say COVID-19 testing services remain unsatisfactory in parts of China amid flare-ups.
China is demanding faster and more accessible COVID-19 testing services in its latest effort to reinforce a zero-tolerance policy against the virus, even when cities have already scrambled to test millions in just a few days amid outbreaks.
Frequent testing, and sometimes mass testing, is standard practice in China's containment of domestically transmitted outbreaks in the past year, but health authorities say testing services remain unsatisfactory in parts of China amid flare-ups.
"Small clusters and sporadic infections have occurred in some areas, exposing problems such as the unreasonable locations of nucleic acid testing agencies, inconvenient services and delays in the returning of results," state media reported on Tuesday, citing the National Health Commission (NHC).
China is facing a new wave of infections involving nearly 200 locally transmitted symptomatic cases in 12 provincial areas since October 17. Many of the infected were from remote parts of northwest China without as much health resources as major cities.
