CHINA / SOCIETY
China announces plan to randomly inspect medical institutions for COVID-19 monitoring
Published: Mar 30, 2023 08:58 PM
People queue outside a fever clinic in Beijing on December 14, 2022. Photo: VCG

People queue outside a fever clinic in Beijing on December 14, 2022. Photo: VCG


Chinese health authorities on Wednesday issued a plan for random monitoring in several sectors including medical institutions, in which inspections will be focused on whether there is any activity to conceal, delay or engage in false reporting of COVID-19 cases, and called on all regions to formulate plans to carry out this task.

Efforts should be intensified to supervise and inspect the reporting of COVID-19 cases, and the units or individuals who fail to perform their duties will be dealt with seriously in accordance with laws and regulations, according to the health authorities. The national random check should be combined with the comprehensive evaluation of classified supervision and control of infectious diseases in medical institutions.

The supervision and inspection of medical institutions will include vaccination management, which will focus on the process of receiving, storage and vaccination of COVID-19 vaccines. It will also supervise and monitor the control of infectious diseases, implementation of disinfection and isolation measures, management of medical waste, biosafety management of pathogenic microbiology labs and other fields, according to the NHC.

According to an attached file which includes details of the plan released by NHC, the random inspections will be carried out in 30 percent of second- and above-level hospitals, 10 percent of first-level hospitals, and 5 percent of grass-roots medical institutions including community health service centers, clinics, township health centers and village clinics, as well as 40 percent of the centers for disease control and prevention and blood transfusion institutions.

A reporting system for infectious diseases will be established to conduct self-inspection linked to epidemic reporting and management as well as the registration information to make it clear that whether there is any activity to conceal, delay and false reporting, according to the plan.

Global Times