The only numbers the National Health Commission is reporting are confirmed cases detected in public testing facilities where symptoms are displayed
BEIJING — China said Wednesday that it would stop reporting asymptomatic COVID-19 cases since they’ve become impossible to track with mass testing no longer required, another step in the country’s departure from some of the world’s strictest antivirus policies.
The only numbers the commission is reporting are confirmed cases detected in public testing facilities where symptoms are displayed. Many people also test at home, and any positive results there would also not be captured. While many greeted the relaxing of the rules with relief, the rapid shift has also caused some concern after years in which the Chinese government talked about the virus as a major threat.
With a clean bill of health still required to enter restaurants and some other public venues, many Chinese are also choosing to forgo such pleasures to avoid testing, leaving many establishments shuttered or empty. Pharmacies in Beijing are rationing out medicine and other supplies. Rapid antigen tests are sold out across the city and online.
Some have taken to ordering from pharmacies in the semi-autonomous city of Hong Kong, which has been steadily relaxing its restrictions without the chaos and uncertainty seen on the mainland. Like much of the world, Hong Kong uses mRNA vaccines that are widely considered more effective than those mandated by China.
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