News | 20 Optimized Measures for the Prevention and Control of COVID-19 Are Announced and the Stockpile of COVID-19 Treatment Drugs Is Accelerated

On Nov. 11, the Comprehensive Team for Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council issued the "Notice on Further Optimizing the Prevention and Control Measures of COVID-19 in A Scientific and Precise Manner". "Measure 13" of the Notice clearly states to "Accelerate the stockpiling of drugs related to the COVID-19 treatment. Stock up the supply reserve to meet patients' needs, especially the treatment needs of high-risk patients with severe COVID-19 and elderly patients." Genuine Biotech will adhere to national requirements, effectively carry out its role as the first responsible party for drug safety, and make every effort to guarantee the supply and reserve of drugs while ensuring safe production, so as to strengthen the defense and control against the pandemic and safeguard people's health.

Notice on Further Optimizing the Prevention and Control Measures of COVID-19 in A Scientific and Precise Manner

Comprehensive Team for Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism [2022] No. 101

To the COVID-19 Joint Prevention and Control Mechanisms (leading groups, command teams) in all provinces, autonomous regions, centrally administered municipality, and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and all member units of the COVID-19 Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council:

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core leader, China has remained committed to prioritizing the people and their lives, to preventing both imported cases and domestic rebound, and to following a dynamic zero-COVID policy. We have been constantly fine-tuning our response measures in light of the evolving time and situation and actively responding to the impact of multiple waves of the global pandemic. We have protected the people's health and safety to the greatest extent possible and made tremendously encouraging achievements in both pandemic response and economic and social development. The Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee met on Nov. 10 to hear a report on COVID-19 response, discussed and arranged 20 measures to further optimize epidemic prevention and control work. To implement the principle of the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau, strengthen the prevention and control of the epidemic and the implementation of adjusted measures, we hereby announce the following details of the relevant works:

I. Raise the political awareness, prevent and control the epidemic in a scientific and precise manner

As new variants of SARS-CoV-2 continue to emerge, the COVID-19 is pandemic globally, and new epidemics continue in China. China is a populous country with large vulnerable population groups, unbalanced regional development, and insufficient medical resources. The epidemics in some areas are of a considerable scale. Due to the mutation of the virus and the climate during the winter and spring, the scope and scale of epidemics may expand further, and the COVID-19 prevention and control situation remains grave. It is necessary to maintain a firm strategic focus and carry out COVID-19 prevention and control work in a scientific and precise manner. We must adapt to the rapid spread of the virus and respond quickly, take more resolute and decisive measures to curb the spread of the epidemics as soon as possible, and focus on wiping out the epidemics in key areas. All departments across the country must resolutely unify their thoughts and actions to the decision and deployment of the CPC Central Committee, implement the decision and deployment of the CPC Central Committee in a complete, accurate, and comprehensive manner, put the people and their lives above all else, prevent both imported cases and domestic rebound, tenaciously pursue the dynamic zero-COVID policy, ensure effective COVID-19 containment, economic stability, and development security, and effectively coordinate epidemic prevention and control with economic and social development. It is crucial to further raise the political awareness and fully recognize that optimizing and adjusting prevention and control measures is not relaxing, less liberalization or "lying flat", but rather adapting to the emerging circumstances of epidemic prevention and control and the new characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 variants, adhering to the established prevention and control strategies and guidelines, and further enhancing the scientific and precise nature of prevention and control. The health and safety of the people must be protected to the maximum, and the epidemic's impact on economic and social development ought to be minimized to implement the principles of the 20th National Congress of the CPC with practical actions.

II. Implement the CPC Central Committee's strategy, actively and steadily optimize and adjust the preventive and control measures

The CPC Central Committee has made important arrangements and clear requirements for the further optimized 20 measures of prevention and control, and all departments across the country must implement the optimized measures without compromise.

(I) For close contacts, the measure of "7-day centralized quarantine + 3-day home health monitoring" is adjusted to "5-day centralized quarantine + 3-day home quarantine," during which the quarantined person is assigned a suitable health code and not allowed to go out. The nucleic acid testing is conducted once each on days 1, 2, 3, and 5 during the centralized quarantine, and once each on days 1 and 3 during the home quarantine.

(II) Timely and accurately determine the close contacts. Secondary contacts are no longer determined.

(III) The "7-day centralized quarantine" of people leaving high-risk areas is adjusted to "7-day home quarantine", during which they are assigned a suitable health code and are not allowed to go out.The nucleic acid testing is conducted once each on days 1, 3, 5, and 7 of home quarantine.

(IV) The classification of regions of "high, medium, or low" risks is adjusted to "high or low" risk to minimize the number of controlled people.In principle, the high-risk areas are as follows: the infected person's residence, the workplaces where they were involved in frequent activities, and where the risk of COVID-19 spread is high. High-risk areas generally refer to a unit or a building and cannot be extended at will. Other areas of the county (municipality, district, banner) where the high-risk area is located are designated as low-risk areas. The high-risk area is re-classified to low-risk when no new infection emerges for 5 consecutive days. Lockdown of the high-risk area should be lifted in a timely manner when eligible.

(V) For workers at high-risk positions exiting closed-loop operations, "7 days of centralized quarantine or 7 days of home quarantine" is adjusted to "5 days of home-based health monitoring", and a suitable health code is assigned. Nucleic acid testing is conducted once each on days 1, 3, and 5. Going out should be avoided if not necessary. Crowded public places or public transits should be avoided if going out is necessary.

(VI) For places with no epidemics, the scope of nucleic acid testing on workers in risky positions or key populations should be determined in strict accordance with ninth edition of China's prevention and control protocol, and the scope shall not be expanded. Generally, citywide nucleic acid testing based on administrative regions will not be conducted and will only be conducted when the epidemic background is unclear, such as when the source of infection or the chain of transmission is not identified, or when there has been a community spread for a long time. Specific measures will be formulated for the detailed implementation of the nucleic acid testing. Reiterate and refine the relevant requirements, and correct the unscientific practices, including "two testing a day" and "three testing a day".

(VII) Cancel the "circuit-breaker" measures for inbound flights. Adjust 2 negative nucleic acid results within 48 hours before boarding to 1 negative nucleic acid result within 48 hours before boarding.

(VIII) Important business personnel and sports teams entering China, etc., will be transported "point-to-point" to the quarantine-free closed-loop management area ("closed-loop bubble") for conducting business, training, competitions, and other activities. During this period, a suitable health code will be assigned, and the personnel cannot leave the management area.Chinese personnel shall complete the vaccination of the booster COVID-19 vaccine before entering the management area and subject to corresponding quarantine or health monitoring measures according to the risk level after completing the work.

(IX) For inbound personnel, it is clarified that the criteria of determining COVID-19 positive is CT value < 35. Risk assessment will be conducted for personnel with Ct values of 35–40 when they are released from centralized quarantine. If the personnel are previously infected, they will be subject to "two testing in three days" during home quarantine, assigned a suitable health code, and are not allowed to go out.

(X) For inbound personnel, the measure of "7-day centralized quarantine + 3-day home health monitoring" is adjusted to "5-day centralized quarantine + 3-day home quarantine," during which the quarantined person is assigned a suitable health code and not allowed to go out. After having completed quarantines at the first entry point, the inbound personnel shall not be quarantined repeatedly at their destination. The nucleic acid testing is conducted once each on days 1, 2, 3, and 5 during the centralized quarantine, and once each on days 1 and 3 during the home quarantine.

(XI) Enhance the construction of health care resources. Develop a graded diagnosis and treatment protocol, admission criteria for infected persons of different clinical severity, and protocols for handling infections in all types of medical institutions and medical professionals, and provide training for all medical professionals. Prepare in-patient beds and critical care beds to increase resources for treatment.

(XII) Promote COVID-19 vaccination in an orderly manner. Formulate protocols to accelerate vaccination and speed up the coverage of booster vaccinations, especially for the elderly population. Accelerate the research and development of monovalent or polyvalent vaccines with broad-spectrum protection and promote the approval in accordance with laws and regulations.

(XIII) Accelerate the stockpiling of drugs related to the COVID-19 treatment. Stock up on the supply reserve to meet patients' needs, especially the treatment needs of high-risk patients with severe COVID-19 and elderly patients. Emphasize on the unique advantages of traditional Chinese medicine, and stock up on effective traditional Chinese medicine formulations. Strengthen the reserve of first-aid drugs and medical equipment.

(XIV) Strengthen the protection of priority institutions and key populations. Identify populations including the elderly, patients with underlying diseases, pregnant women, and hemodialysis patients, and develop health and safety protocols. Optimize the management of nursing homes, psychiatric hospitals, orphanages, and other places where vulnerable people are gathered.

(XV) Implement the "four earlies" requirements to reduce the scale of the epidemic and handling time. All localities should further improve the multi-channel monitoring, early warning, and multi-point trigger mechanism for the epidemic. For inter-provincial travelers, carry out testing upon landing. Report the discovery of infected persons in a timely manner in accordance with the law. Carry out epidemiological investigation and management and control of people at risk as soon as possible. Strictly adhere to early detection, early reporting, early quarantine, and early treatment to avoid the spread of the infections or the delay in response. We should never wait and see or go our own way.

(XVI) Crack down the "one-size-fits-all" approach and the local governments' excessive anti-COVID-19 measures. Local party committees and governments should fulfill their local responsibilities, strictly implement the unified national prevention and control policies. School closure, class suspension, work and production interruptions, unauthorized traffic blocking, arbitrarily "silencing" management, arbitrary lockdown, prolonged lockdown, arbitrary closure of hospitals and other types of excessive measures are strictly prohibited. Notice and public exposure will be strengthened. Those who have caused serious consequence will be strictly held accountable in accordance with laws and regulations. Task forces dedicated to tackling the problem of excessive measures at all levels will be utilized to efficiently collect and transfer the reported leads, and urge local authorities to rectify the situation in a timely manner. The National Health Commission, National Administration of Disease Control and Prevention, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Transport, and other departments in charge of respective sectors shall strengthen the supervision and guidance of the respective sectors, increase the public exposure of typical cases to effectively make deterrent.

(XVII) Strengthen the services and protection for people in quarantine. All localities should establish task forces dedicated to ensuring the provision of daily necessities, develop and improve the market supply of daily necessities in a timely manner, distribute in lockdown areas, and jointly supply daily necessities among different regions to maintain a good reserve of important household goods. Comprehensively survey the basic information of the resident population in communities, gather the information of the empty-nest elderly living alone, children in distress, pregnant women, patients with underlying medical conditions, and other key populations. Establish a priority population list and a list of their needs during epidemic. Optimize the terminal distribution of necessities for lockdown areas, specify the dedicated resources for the supply of household goods, set up fixed collection points in the community, and connect the "last meter" of distribution. Guide the community and medical institutions, pharmacies, etc., to establish a direct hotline, equip the community with dedicated vehicles for service connection. Strictly implement the first diagnosis responsibility and the emergency critical care system. It is prohibited to refuse medical treatment for any reason in order to protect residents' needs for treatment and medication. Provide psychological counseling to people in quarantine, and enhance the care and help for the elderly, sick, disabled, and other special groups to address the practical difficulties of the people.

(XVIII) Optimize epidemic control measures on school campuses. Improve the school-region coordination mechanism. Strengthen the on-campus emergency response to epidemics by joint prevention and control. Prioritize transits and quarantines from campuses, nucleic acid testing, epidemiological investigation and contact tracing, environmental disinfection, and providence of daily necessities. Enhance the emergency response capacity of schools and provide support for schools to handle epidemics as quickly as possible. All localities and schools should strictly implement the national and education department's prevention and control measures and resolutely implement the scientific and targeted prevention and control requirements without excessive controls. The Ministry of Education and the provincial- and prefectural education departments will take the lead in setting up task forces to investigate and supervise the rectification of outstanding problems such as arbitrary campus lockdown, prolonged lockdown, long periods without offline teaching, inability to keep up with daily necessities, and inconsistent control requirements for the teachers, students, employees, and their families. Rectify the problems of ineffective prevention and control and excessive prevention. Education departments at all levels will set up complaint platforms and hotlines to accept, refer, and respond in a timely manner, establish the mechanism of "handling a complaint upon receipt", improve the rapid response to problems and feedback mechanism, and facilitate the resolution of the urgent problems of teachers and students in a timely manner.

(XIX) Implement epidemic control measures in corporates and industrial parks. All local joint prevention and control mechanisms in will set up task forces to understand the background of corporates (including private enterprises) and industrial parks in their respective jurisdictions, and develop COVID-19 prevention and control plans in line with the principle of "one policy for one corporate" and "one policy for one industrial park". Corporates and industrial parks must fulfill their respective responsibility in COVID-19 prevention and control, establish a full accountability system for COVID-19 prevention and control from the management level of corporates and parks to workshop teams and front-line workers, and refine the entire procedure and whole process of COVID-19 prevention and control logbook.Strictly verify the epidemic-related risks of personnel returning to work, and confirm their health conditions before returning to work. Strengthen the guarantee of livelihood, COVID-19 prevention, and rotation preparation for employees in key positions and processes, improve the management methods of third-party outsourced workers, and strictly manage the access of people in the society. During epidemics, every effort should be made to ensure the smooth flow of logistics. It is prohibited to request the shutdown of key enterprises related to the whole industrial chain and the livelihood supply. The "white list" system should be implemented.

(XX) Arrange orderly departures for people who are stranded during the lockdown. Places with epidemics should accurately define risk areas in a timely manner, and allow those who are not local and who are not in high-risk areas to leave after risk assessment to avoid stranding. Protection should be taken on the returning journey. In places where a larger number of people are stranded, special departure protocol should be developed, and the places of departure and destination should strengthen the mutual communication and collaboration to make proper arrangements under the premise of effectively preventing the spread of epidemic. Transportation, civil aviation, and national railways should actively facilitate the transportation. The destination should enhance the overall awareness, shall not refuse to accept the return of the stranded people, and implement prevention and control measures for returned people in accordance with the requirements, ensuring to avoid the spread of epidemic and not to take excessive measures.

III. Strengthen the risk prevention and implement the measures for dealing with risks and potential hazards

All departments should adhere to the bottom-line thinking, highlight the problem-based orientation, properly implement the optimized adjustment measures in an orderly manner, master the key elements, and properly respond to the relevant risk prevention to ensure that the overall risk of the epidemic is under control.

(I) About the management and control of people at risk. All localities should strictly manage the centralized quarantine sites to avoid cross-infection at the quarantine sites. Guide people eligible for home quarantine to strictly implement the relevant requirements during their home quarantine. Once tested positive, carry out transmission risk assessment and track and manage relevant people at risk to prevent the spread of the viruses. Those who are not eligible for home quarantine are still subject to centralized quarantine. It is necessary to strengthen the closed-loop management and personal protection during the operation of workers at high-risk positions to avoid infection during work.Guide workers at high-risk positions during home health monitoring to strictly implement the relevant requirements. Once tested positive, immediately carry out transmission risk assessment and track and manage relevant people at risk to prevent the spread of the viruses.

(II) About the delineation of risk areas. After the epidemic, each region should promptly define the high-risk area and release it to the public. High-risk areas are generally defined by units and buildings. In cases where the risk of disease transmission is unclear or where widespread community transmission exists, the boundaries of high-risk areas can be moderately expanded.

(III) About the adjustment of defense measures against inbound transmissions.Localities should prepare a reserve of resources for centralized quarantine, regulate the setup of centralized quarantine sites, and strictly manage the implementation. Strengthen the standard management of home quarantine of inbound personnel. For the quarantine-free closed-loop management area ("closed-loop bubble") both foreign and Chinese personnel will strictly implement the closed-loop management, personal protection, nucleic acid testing and other requirements to prevent "loop breaking". Further screen the inbound personnel with Ct value of 35–40 for nucleic acid testing. Conduct another nucleic acid testing after 24 hours. If the Ct value of nucleic acid testing is < 35, immediately transferred to the designated hospitals or Fangcang shelter hospitals for quarantine and treatment. If the Ct value of nucleic acid testing is ≥35, the patient is generally considered to be previously infected, and he/she will be subjected to "two testing in three days" during home quarantine, assigned a suitable health code, and not allowed to go out.

IV. Strengthen the organizational support of the optimization and adjustment work

Implementing the optimized and adjusted prevention and control measures, highlight the policy interpretation, training and guidance, and accountability, further build social consensus, avoid and eliminate misinterpretation of the optimized and adjusted measures, strengthen leadership, enhance accountability, and resolutely guard the bottom line of no large-scale epidemic.

(I) Strengthen the publicity guidance and policy interpretation. Strengthen the interpretation of the optimized and adjusted policy, emphasize the continued adherence to the general approach of epidemic prevention and control in China, guide the whole society to fully recognize the importance of adhering to the principle of prioritizing the people and their lives, preventing both imported cases and domestic rebound, and following a dynamic zero-COVID policy, fully recognize that further optimized prevention and control measures are to prevent and control in a more scientific and targeted manner, and the misinterpretation of relaxing the epidemic prevention and control, or even liberalizing and "lying flat" must not be allowed. Guide the objective understanding that China's optimized and adjusted prevention and control policy measures are based on the characteristics of the virus mutation, which is both scientific and necessary. Seek the understanding and support of the general public and grassroots first-line workers to build a solid foundation for mass prevention and control.Strengthen the monitoring of public opinion and respond to public concerns in a timely manner.

(II) Strengthen work guidance and training at all levels. The supervisory departments of various industries should effectively shoulder responsibilities, strengthen the guidance of the optimization and adjustment in their respective industries and fields, refine supporting policies, and supervise the implementation of various measures. All localities should accurately understand the essence of the policies for comprehensive implementation, refine the specific work requirements, carry out in-depth training for prevention and control personnel at all levels, and promote and improve the work capacity and capability of local party committees and governments at all levels, joint prevention and control mechanisms at all levels, and the grassroots prevention and control frontline through organizing training.

(III) Strengthen the leadership of the organization and accountability for implementation. Local party committees and governments at all levels should be duty-bound to defend their territories and responsible for defending their territories. The main responsible comrades will personally be responsible, clearly define the responsibilities of work, combine with the actual organization and implementation, strengthen policy training, power coordination and supply security, strongly and orderly promote the optimized and adjusted prevention and control measures, and implement the tasks without compromise. Fully understand the complexity, difficulty, and repetitiveness of the fight against the epidemic, strengthen accountability, enhance struggle competence, go deep into the grassroots and the front line, strengthen details of the prevention and control of the epidemic, make every effort to ensure the production and livelihood of the people, effectively address the basic needs of the people during the epidemic, protect the basic livelihood services such as medical care, strive to maintain the normality of production and life, provide ideological and psychological guidance, and be determined to win the battle of regular prevention and control of the epidemic. Adhere to the bottom-line thinking, highlight the problem-based orientation. Not only oppose to the irresponsible attitude, which fails to implement policies in place, resulting in the amplification of prevention and control risks, but also oppose to and overcome formalism and bureaucracy, and resolutely correct the simplistic, "one-size-fits-all" and excessive measures. Take solid measures to implement the optimized and adjusted measures, efficiently coordinate epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development, and reflect the good results of the principles of the 20th National Congress of the CPC with practical actions.

Comprehensive Team for Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council Against COVID-19

(Seal by National Health Commission)

Nov. 11, 2022