The administration requires all provincial-level regions to complete the price adjustment by June 10…reports Asian Lite News
China has asked local authorities to further lower the price of Covid-19 nucleic acid tests to no more than 16 yuan (nearly $2.4) per person for a single test.
The price for batch testing, which combines samples from up to 10 people in a single test, should be no more than five yuan per person, said a circular made public by the National Healthcare Security Administration on Wednesday.
The administration requires all provincial-level regions to complete the price adjustment by June 10, Xinhua news agency reported.
The move is part of the government’s efforts to reduce the cost of nucleic acid testing, an important means to facilitate regular epidemic response.
The nucleic acid test price in China has dropped over the past years from more than 120 yuan per person for a single test to no more than 60 yuan in September 2021, 40 yuan in December 2021, and 28 yuan in April 2022.
The administration also encouraged measures, including centralised procurement of detection reagents, to secure a continuous and reasonable decline in the testing price
Last week, multinational companies (MNC) have halted some operations as China widens its Covid lockdowns – among its biggest since the start of the pandemic in early 2020, BBC reported.
Tens of millions of people across the country face restrictions, including the entire Jilin province and technology hub Shenzhen, as authorities report record numbers of cases.
Toyota, Volkswagen and Apple supplier Foxconn are among the affected firms.
The lockdowns have raised concerns that crucial supply chains may be disrupted, said the BBC report.
China on Tuesday reported a record high of more than 5,000 cases, most of it in Jilin.
All 24 million residents of the north-eastern province were placed under quarantine orders on Monday.
It is the first time China has restricted an entire province since the Wuhan and Hebei lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic.
Jilin residents have been banned from moving around, and anyone wanting to leave the province must apply for police permission.
It came a day after a five-day lockdown was placed on the 12.5 million residents of the southern city of Shenzhen, with all buses and subway services suspended.
On Tuesday, authorities in Langfang city which borders the capital Beijing, as well as Dongguan in the southern province of Guangdong, also imposed immediate lockdowns.
