China frees up hospital beds, allowing mild Covid-19 cases to isolate at other facilities

Previously, anyone who tested positive was admitted to hospital for observation – now the ‘light’ cases will be sent elsewhere

Health authorities also make it easier for those who have recovered to test negative so that they can be released from hospital or isolation

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Workers at a locked down neighbourhood in Shanghai on Wednesday. Cases are surging in China as the highly transmissible Omicron variant spreads. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 8:00pm, 16 Mar 2022Updated: 2:42pm, 17 Mar 2022

Mild cases of Covid-19 will no longer be sent to hospitals in China, as health authorities seek to free up resources in response to a growing Omicron outbreak.

In new treatment guidelines released late on Tuesday, the National Health Commission said “light” cases would still be required to isolate at designated facilities where they would be monitored and sent to hospital if needed.

Previously, anyone who tested positive was admitted to hospital for observation.

“Improvements have been made … based on [medical] opinions from different parts of the country – that people infected with the Omicron variant are mostly asymptomatic or light cases that do not require too much treatment, but admitting them all to hospitals takes up too many medical resources,” the NHC said in a statement.

It comes as cases are surging in China and millions of people are again under lockdown as the highly transmissible Omicron variant spreads, while Beijing sticks to its zero-Covid strategy.

The NHC reported 3,054 new local cases across the country on Wednesday – 1,860 with symptoms and 1,194 without. That was down from 5,100 infections the previous day, the biggest jump in daily case numbers since the start of the pandemic.