Cabinet ramps up COVID-19 testing

A document issued by the commission last month stipulates that fever clinics must report testing results in six hours, while results for tests conducted on patients at hospitals must be delivered in 12 hours. For individuals who voluntarily undergo testing, institutions must report the results in 24 hours.

The document also called for local authorities to step up training for staff at testing agencies and enable the universal recognition of results to avoid repeat testing.

Wu Ming, a professor of public health policy and administration at Peking University, said targeted testing measures and effective contact tracing have enabled the country to quickly contain fresh outbreaks.

"Preparedness averts peril," she said. "Our knowledge of the novel coronavirus remains incomplete, and we need to ramp up our testing strength to prepare for worse-case scenarios."

Wu added that some areas could lack sufficient qualified personnel if large-scale testing is required, and the problem could be solved by increasing the number of mobile testing centers.

The latest policy has offered another significant boost to the many biotech companies who are researching testing technologies.

Dai Lizhong, the chairman of Sansure Biotech in Changsha, Hunan province, and also a National People's Congress deputy, said an integral part of improving testing technology for COVID-19 is to allow tests to be conducted outside professional labs and to meet the demand emerging in different scenarios, such as at customs posts, airports and grassroots institutions.

Dai's company released a diagnostic system for the coronavirus on Thursday that does not require a professional laboratory and gives a test result within 15 to 45 minutes.

He said the latest Cabinet policy will significantly bolster the testing capacity at primary-level medical institutions and create a strong pillar of infrastructure and technological strength to help contain major disease outbreaks in the future.