China on Tuesday updated its COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment playbook, including isolating mild cases rather than hospitalizing them, changing the criteria for patients to be discharged from hospitals and adding antigen testing for detection.
“The country’s updates on the protocols aim to achieve a more scientific allocation of medical resources that will help patients who are in greater need receive better treatment,” Lu Hongzhou, president of the Third People’s Hospital of Shenzhen, told Shenzhen Special Zone Daily.
Lu observed that asymptomatic COVID-19 patients in acute or late incubation stage are contagious and need to be quarantined. However, providing hospital treatment to these patients might waste certain medical resources since their symptoms are mild. The updated protocols allow asymptomatic patients to stay in centralized quarantine sites to pass the acute period and they can get out of quarantine after they form antibodies.
Seniors with underlying diseases, obese adults or cancer patients have more chances to develop more serious symptoms a few days later during the early stage. These patients need to be quarantined in the designated hospital, according to Lu.
Lu said that his hospital is experienced in preventing COVID patients from developing severe or critical conditions.
Two anti-COVID drugs, including Paxlovid and a domestically monoclonal antibody jointly developed by the Third People’s Hospital of Shenzhen, Tsinghua University and Brii Biosciences, were included into the new protocols.
Lu suggested that the effective antiviral medicine and neutralizing antibodies can hugely reduce patients’ viral load when used in the early stage, lessening possibilities of developing into severe conditions. When a patient’s COVID test result turns negative, they can be discharged from hospital soon after.
Lu added that some of his hospital’s COVID patients will be qualified to be discharged from hospital according to the new protocols.
In addition, the standards for lifting quarantine and discharge from the hospital have been adjusted. Now, patients with a CT value of nucleic test equal to or higher than 35, rather than 40 previously, can be released from quarantine or discharged from hospital.
CT value refers to the number of amplification cycles needed for a sample to be detectable in nucleic acid test.
Recovered hospitalized patients will undergo a seven-day home health monitoring instead of a 14-day quarantine previously required, the new protocols state.