China's latest COVID-19 control protocol highlights vaccination, personal protection

BEIJING, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- China released its 10th edition of COVID-19 control protocol on Saturday, highlighting vaccination and personal protection.

Released by the State Council joint COVID-19 prevention and control mechanism team, the protocol encourages the public, especially the elderly, to take the initiative to get fully vaccinated and take booster shots.

"For high-risk population, a second booster dose was recommended six months after the first dose of a booster is completed," says the protocol.

It also stresses good hygiene habits such as washing hands frequently and wearing masks to strengthen personal protection.

Mass nucleic acid testing will no longer be carried out, but antigen or nucleic acid testing will be conducted for relevant people seeking medical treatment and inpatients at hospitals, staff or care recipients at aged care facilities and social welfare institutions, and people at high risk of serious illness in communities, says the protocol.

Quarantine measures against people with a COVID-19 infection will be dropped, and their close contacts will no longer be identified, says the protocol, adding that the designating of high-risk and low-risk areas will be stopped.

It also proposes that temporary prevention and control measures should be taken timely and in accordance with the law to reduce large gatherings as well as the flow of people, to alleviate the impact of the sudden increase of infected people on social functioning and medical resources.