Covid in China: home isolation ‘inevitable’ for mild infections if cases surge, adviser says

Name: Beijing closes some Covid testing booths as China enters new phase of pandemic controls
Uploaded: 2022-12-05T09:04:48.000Z
Duration: 3 min 44 s
Description: Beijing closes some Covid testing booths as China enters new phase of pandemic controls

Feng Zijian, former deputy director of China’s CDC, says risk of infection is growing and recommends rapid antigen kits in place of PCR tests

He is among panel of experts to discuss easing restrictions with Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan, who leads the country’s pandemic response

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A Covid-19 prevention worker guards the entrance of a residential compound under lockdown in Beijing. Source: Bloomberg

Phoebe Zhang

Published: 5:04pm, 5 Dec 2022Updated: 6:44pm, 5 Dec 2022

China should allow mild and asymptomatic Covid-19 patients to isolate at home in the event of a surge in cases to relieve pressure on the medical system, a national pandemic response adviser said.

Feng Zijian, former deputy director of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and one of eight experts to discuss easing restrictions with Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan last Wednesday, told Shanghai news portal The Paper that the risk of infection was greatly increasing.

China has reversed course in the past week, with multiple cities relaxing measures beyond what was allowed under the central government’s 20-point plan to “optimise” the country’s pandemic response. Many cities have rolled back polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, stopped requiring test results to enter public venues, reopened shops and resumed economic activity.

However, only a few residential compounds in Beijing have allowed pregnant residents, the elderly and those with special needs to isolate at home after testing positive. Most cities still send them to makeshift fangcang hospitals to isolate.

“The medical resources at these centres will be easily exhausted. At that time, it will be inevitable for these mild cases and asymptomatic patients to isolate themselves at home,” Feng said.

“It will be a necessary step if the outbreak expands on a larger scale.”

He also recommended the use of rapid antigen kits to allow members of the public to test themselves, instead of relying on PCR tests.

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Beijing closes some Covid testing booths as China enters new phase of pandemic controls