The National Health Commission updated the treatment playbook for COVID-19 on Tuesday based on the transmission characteristics of the virus' variants, including Delta and Omicron, as well as the high proportion of mild cases.
The revisions include optimizing case detection, reporting procedures, classification of types of treatment and further standardization of antiviral therapy.
According to the new plan, patients with mild symptoms will be put under quarantine in centralized locations, rather than be taken directly to hospitals as originally required. Patients will be transferred to a designated hospital for treatment only when the condition worsens.
Ordinary, severe and critical patients and those with severe risk factors will still be treated in centralized hospitals.
Additionally, the standards for lifting quarantine and discharge from hospital have been adjusted. Now, patients with a CT value of nucleic test equal to or higher than 35 can be discharged from the hospital. Recovered patients will undergo a 7-day home health monitoring instead of a14-day quarantine, the new plan mentioned.
Experts said the adjustment of the treatment procedures for mild cases will help free up medical resources in China and better allocate resources for those who are in greater need when there are more mild cases as the epidemic outbreaks further expand.
According to a simulation model developed by Lanzhou University, under strict and timely control measures, China's latest wave of outbreaks amid Omicron will be initially controlled by early April, with 35,000 infected.
