Mild Covid Cases Will No Longer Be Hospitalized: National Health Commission

Covid patients in Beijing (and indeed all of China) with mild symptoms will no longer be hospitalized and instead will be sent to centralized locations for isolation, according to new guidelines released last night.

China's National Health Commission updated their guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of Covid patients for the first time since 2020 last night, multiple sources such as China Daily and Global Times reported this morning. 

The most striking change is in the treatment of mild and asymptomatic cases of Covid: they will no longer be automatically sent to hospitals for treatment, but rather will be sent to centralized quarantine, most likely in one of many hotels that have been retrofitted to handle incoming travelers from overseas. 

Over the last ten days, approximately 90 percent of the locally transmitted cases in Beijing have been classified as mild, according to daily reports published in The Beijing News.

A full English translation of the new policy, the 9th revision since the beginning of the outbreak, has yet to be posted online. The last edition (the 8th) can be found on China Daily's website here.

Could this be the first step in allowing light cases to quarantine at home? As of now, hard to say.

What about those with severe symptoms?

The change of treatment only applies to those with mild symptoms or who are asymptomatic. People who are classified as moderate and above will still need to receive standard hospital treatment. All Covid patients in Beijing are treated at a specially-built isolation ward with hundreds of beds that was built next to Ditan Hospital in 2020.

Discharge Criteria Relaxed 

China has also loosened the standards for discharge from the hospital, making it easier for patients to be cleared for release based on the CT value of their PCR tests. CT values are inversly proportional to viral load, and prior to the change, a patient would have to show a CT value of 40 or above to be released. This has now been lowered to 35.

Post-Treatment Home Quarantined Shortened

Another big adjustment is the change in the amount of time required to be spend at home after discharge. Now, recovered paitients no longer need to observe 14 days of home quarantine, but only 7 days instead.

Why the change?

The change is an acknowledgement that patients who contract Omicron are less likely to get seriously ill, and in fact many never even develop symptoms.

If all Covid patients regardless of condition were still treated at designated hospitals, it would put too much strain on medical resources, making it difficult to treat patients with more serious symptoms. This is especially important, as the new variant has caused a jump in cases in over 20 provinces across China as of this week.

What are people saying?

After the new guideline was released on Mar 15, some netizens have been quite supportive of the new regulations, and think this might signal that China is gradually inching towards a more relaxed approach to Covid.

"I hope that the everything will be back to normal next year!" One wrote. 

"Perhaps it will be more like the flu eventually!" Another said.

What do you think of the new policy? Is it a step towards normalcy? Let us know in the comments!

READ: Beijing Bears Down as Omicron Surges in Other Cities

Images: 双流发布，微博