Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, May 19th Question: Six Questions about Nucleic Acid Testing - The Head of the Medical Administration and Hospital Administration Bureau of the National Health and Health Commission responds to hot issues
Xinhua News Agency reporter
Nucleic acid testing is a key means to quickly discover the source of infection.
Why do some parts of my country carry out normalized nucleic acid testing?
What are the precautions for large-scale nucleic acid testing?
How to ensure the accuracy of nucleic acid test results?
In response to questions about nucleic acid testing that are of public concern, the person in charge of the Medical Administration and Hospital Administration Bureau of the National Health and Health Commission answered.
Reporter: Why should multiple rounds of nucleic acid testing be carried out in areas where the epidemic occurred?
Head of the Medical Administration and Hospital Administration Bureau of the National Health and Health Commission: At present, my country's epidemic prevention and control has entered a new stage of responding to the epidemic of Omicron mutants.
The Omicron variant has the characteristics of faster spread, shorter incubation period, and stronger concealment. We must quickly and effectively cut off the virus transmission chain in order to achieve the maximum prevention and control effect with the minimum cost.
In the event of a clustered epidemic, especially when the source of risk is unknown, nucleic acid testing of the population in the designated area must be completed within a specified time.
After the screening of the population is completed, based on the number of infected persons and their distribution, etc., the risk of epidemic prevention and control will be studied and judged, and then the next round of nucleic acid testing will be decided.
The number of nucleic acid testing rounds can be reduced only by accomplishing "exhaustive inspections" as soon as possible, "transferring all infected persons and close contacts", discovering the source of infection, cutting off the transmission route, and controlling the epidemic as soon as possible; "Exhaustive inspection" and "Should transfer all transfer", will have to find out the infected person through more rounds of nucleic acid testing.
In the third edition of the Regional Nucleic Acid Testing Organization Implementation Guidelines that we issued, guiding suggestions are given on the strategy of nucleic acid screening. All localities should study, judge and refine according to the actual situation, and do a good job in the organization and implementation.
Reporter: In areas where there is no epidemic, why should normalized nucleic acid testing be carried out?
Head of the Medical Administration and Hospital Administration Bureau of the National Health and Health Commission: The characteristics of the Omicron variant make it difficult for some early infected people to be found.
When the clustered outbreaks of Omikron that occurred in many places in the early stage were discovered, they had been hidden and spread in the community for a period of time, which brought difficulties to the prevention and control work.
Among the various measures for epidemic prevention and control, nucleic acid detection is a key and effective means to quickly discover the source of infection, lock the target of control, and then take measures such as isolation to cut off the transmission route. .
In particular, the role of nucleic acid testing has become more prominent in the effective response to the Omicron variant outbreaks in Jilin, Shanghai, and Beijing this year.
Therefore, we must unswervingly implement the strategy of "expanding prevention with nucleic acid testing as the center" in order to better and more effectively respond to the epidemic.
Carrying out normalized nucleic acid testing in areas where there has not yet been an epidemic but a high risk of importation is conducive to improving the sensitivity of epidemic monitoring and early warning, weaving a dense epidemic monitoring network, discovering potential risks earlier, and better implementing the "four early" requirements; at the same time, It is conducive to providing more convenient and efficient nucleic acid testing services for people who "should be tested and are willing to be tested".
Therefore, all localities can carry out normalized nucleic acid testing according to the needs of local epidemic prevention and control.
Reporter: What is the significance of establishing a nucleic acid "sampling circle" of 15 minutes' walk?
Is it too costly to deploy so many inspection points?
Person in charge of the Medical Administration and Hospital Administration Bureau of the National Health Commission: During the normalization of epidemic prevention and control, nucleic acid testing should be carried out in accordance with the requirements of key groups "should be tested" and other groups "willing to be tested", especially in provincial capital cities and Cities with a population of 10 million have established nucleic acid "sampling circles" within a 15-minute walk. The purpose is to facilitate people to conduct nucleic acid sampling nearby for "early detection" and to improve the sensitivity of epidemic monitoring and early warning.
At present, many cities and regions in China have successively explored the implementation of normalized nucleic acid testing, such as Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Dalian, Hefei, as well as many cities in Jiangxi and Hubei provinces.
These cities have rationally arranged nucleic acid sampling points according to local conditions, and organized citizens to conduct nucleic acid testing for a minimum of 48 hours and a maximum of 7 days. In general, the operation is stable and good results have been achieved.
In particular, some places have jointly purchased nucleic acid detection reagents and other consumables from multiple places, further reducing the cost of testing, reducing the price of testing, and promoting the orderly development of normalized testing.
It is also understood that relevant departments of the State Council are stepping up research to further guide localities to reduce the cost and price of nucleic acid testing.
Reporter: Is normalized nucleic acid testing mandatory?
Head of the Medical Administration and Hospital Administration Bureau of the National Health and Health Commission: Normalized nucleic acid testing is determined according to the needs of local epidemic prevention and control, and not all cities are required to establish a nucleic acid "sampling circle" within a 15-minute walk, mainly concentrated in those with high import risk. Provincial capital cities and cities with a population of 10 million; not all people are required to be tested every 48 hours. The specific testing frequency is determined by the local area based on the occurrence and development of the epidemic and the needs of prevention and control, as well as the situation.
Reporter: When organizing large-scale nucleic acid testing, how to avoid the risk of transmission caused by crowds?
Head of the Medical Administration and Hospital Administration Bureau of the National Health and Health Commission: In order to guide local organizations to do large-scale nucleic acid testing and avoid crowds gathering, we have successively issued three editions of the implementation guidelines for nucleic acid testing organizations.
There are four main points to note:
One is to do a good job planning and organizational management.
Clarify the organizational structure and straighten out the whole chain work process.
The background of the actual population of each street, community, and community within the jurisdiction should be clear, and the current situation of nucleic acid sampling and detection capabilities should be accurately grasped.
Once it is launched, it is necessary to strengthen the coordination of multiple departments, establish a flat working mechanism, centralize the office when necessary, and do a good job in the organization of the whole process of procurement, delivery, inspection, and reporting.
The second is to optimize the layout of sampling point settings.
Considering the population size, geographic traffic, and the distribution of nucleic acid testing institutions, the setting of sampling points is determined with reference to the standard of setting a sampling point for 2,000 to 3,000 people and a sampling station for 600 to 800 people.
In principle, the sampling points are set in the unit of the community, and now the outdoor sampling points are given priority in this season; the venues with good ventilation such as gymnasiums, exhibition halls, school playgrounds, etc. can also be selected.
The third is to strengthen the organization and management of the sampling site.
Set up clear guide signs, plan the entry and exit routes, ensure the one-way flow of personnel, and clarify the sampling process and precautions.
By making reservations, notification and sampling in advance in different time periods, the gathering of people in a short period of time is reduced and the queuing time is shortened.
Staff and volunteers should be deployed on site to strengthen order maintenance, instruct the masses to take personal protection, maintain a safe distance, and avoid cross-infection.
For the elderly, pregnant women, disabled and other groups, a green channel should be set up for independent sampling to enhance humanized care.
Fourth, the public should actively cooperate.
The public participating in nucleic acid testing should implement measures such as wearing masks and maintaining a safe distance, and consciously obey the organization and management of the staff.
During the sampling process, do not touch any objects such as the sampling table, and leave as soon as possible after sampling to reduce on-site stay and conversation.
Reporter: How to ensure the accuracy of nucleic acid test results?
Head of the Medical Administration and Hospital Administration Bureau of the National Health and Health Commission: In order to ensure the accuracy and reliability of nucleic acid test results, we have mainly taken the following measures:
The first is to strictly test qualifications for access.
Strengthen the management of gene amplification testing laboratories, supervise the access of each laboratory that conducts nucleic acid testing, strengthen the qualification assessment of technical personnel, and continuously improve access registration to ensure that the institutions and personnel entering meet the qualification requirements.
At present, there are about 13,000 laboratories nationwide with nucleic acid testing qualifications for the new coronavirus, and 153,000 technicians who have obtained nucleic acid testing qualifications.
The second is to strictly test the quality control.
While carrying out the laboratory quality control work on a regular basis, we organize the National Clinical Inspection Center to conduct an inter-laboratory quality evaluation on a monthly basis.
So far, more than 38,000 laboratories have been evaluated, and the pass rate is 99.4%.
At the same time, in large-scale nucleic acid screening, quality supervisors are assigned to each laboratory that undertakes testing tasks to supervise and guide its testing work throughout the process to ensure testing quality.
The third is to continuously optimize technical specifications.
Two versions of the new coronavirus nucleic acid detection technical operating procedures have been formulated successively, and specific regulations have been made on the entire process of technicians, specimen apheresis, specimen mixed collection, specimen management, laboratory testing, and result reporting.
It has innovatively developed 5-in-1, 10-in-1, and 20-in-1 mixed detection technologies, and has successively updated three editions of the organization and implementation guidelines for nucleic acid detection.
Fourth, focus on strengthening the supervision of third-party testing institutions.
Formulate and implement the "Interim Measures for the Management of Medical Testing Laboratories", "Measures for the Management of Large-scale New Coronavirus Nucleic Acid Testing Laboratories (Trial)" and other documents, and regularly publish the list of qualified institutions; Reported laboratories, strengthen supervision, handle in accordance with laws and regulations, and never tolerate.
In the next step, the National Health and Health Commission will continue to increase the quality supervision of nucleic acid testing, and comprehensively make good use of various methods such as "unannounced inspections", regular random inspections, and announcement of the list of qualified laboratories to continuously improve the quality of nucleic acid testing and provide strong support for epidemic prevention and control. support.