New COVID rules slash quarantine period by half

The State Council has slashed the quarantine period for close contacts and inbound travelers by half in the updated COVID-19 control protocol released on Tuesday.

Cheng Youquan, deputy director of the supervision bureau of the National Health Commission, also asked regions that impose tough quarantine measures on people from pandemic-stricken cities such as Shanghai to make adjustments.

Cheng was speaking at a press conference organized by the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council.

According to the nation's ninth edition of the COVID-19 control protocol, close contacts and inbound travelers will now undergo seven days of quarantine at an official center and three days of home monitoring, instead of 14 and seven days.

Nasal swabs will no longer be given to these people for nucleic acid testing. Instead, they will have throat swabs for the first three days and the fifth and seventh days of centralized quarantine and on the third day of in-home monitoring.

Close contacts of close contacts will have 7-day home quarantine rather than 7-day centralized quarantine. They will receive nucleic acid testing on the first, fourth and seventh days.

Meanwhile, people in high-risk areas should stay at home and their daily necessities and parcels will be delivered by community volunteers.

Those in medium-risk areas should stay in their communities and are allowed to pick up their daily necessities and parcels at different times.

If there are no new infections for seven days, high-risk areas will be downgraded to medium risk. Medium-risk areas with no infections for three days will be downgraded to low risk.

In other areas, people who have been to high-risk areas within the previous seven days will have 7-day centralized isolation, while those who traveled to medium-risk areas will undergo 7-day home quarantine.

Low-risk areas refer to zones in a region with medium- or high-risk areas. In the low-risk areas, individuals should take pandemic prevention and control measures by themselves and avoid gatherings.

In other areas, people who have been to low-risk areas within the previous seven days are required to get two nucleic acid tests within three days.

The frequency of nucleic acid testing for groups at high risk of COVID-19 infection will be increased. Individuals having direct contact with inbound travelers, goods and environments will receive a nucleic acid test every day.

Those who have to work in crowded areas, mix with large numbers of people or travel to many places for their work will get a nucleic acid test twice a week.

Antigen self-testing should be added as a supplementary method of epidemic monitoring.

Medical and health institutions can give antigen tests to patients suspected of infection or those from medium- and high-risk areas.

Different nucleic acid testing plans will be given to regions with different population sizes.

The range and frequency of nucleic acid testing for provincial capitals, cities with a population of more than 10 million, general cities, and rural areas depends on comprehensive consideration of factors like whether the source of an infection is clear, whether there is a risk of community transmission, and whether the chain of transmission is clear.