CCTV News: On the evening of March 15, the “New Coronary Virus Pneumonia Diagnosis and Treatment Plan (Trial Version 9)” was released. The plan pointed out that at present, the infected cases of the Omicron strain have replaced the delta strain as the main epidemic strain. In addition, the ability of early detection of cases should be further improved, and antigen detection should be added as a supplement. At the press conference of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council held on March 15, the relevant person in charge of the National Health Commission gave answers to the application population and testing standards of antigen testing.
According to reports, there are three main groups of people for the application of antigen testing: the first category is those who go to primary medical institutions and have clinical fever symptoms within 5 days; the second category is isolation and observation personnel, including home isolation personnel and overseas Quarantine observers entering the country; the third category is residents who wish to test themselves.
A positive antigen test should be closed-loop and transferred to a nucleic acid testing institution
Residents self-test antigens at home. If they are positive, they must report to the community in their jurisdiction. The community will then notify the emergency center to call 120 special ambulances, and the patient will be closed-loop transferred to a medical institution with nucleic acid testing conditions for nucleic acid testing.
Jiao Yahui, Director of the Medical Administration and Hospital Administration Bureau of the National Health and Health Commission: If the antigen test is positive, all the swabs, test tubes and test cards you have used must be placed in sealed plastic bags, and our staff must Take this to a medical institution and dispose of it as medical waste.
Antigen detection cannot replace nucleic acid detection
The relevant person in charge of the National Health and Health Commission introduced that antigen testing cannot replace nucleic acid testing to determine whether the tested person is infected with the new crown.
Li Jinming, deputy director of the National Health Commission’s Clinical Laboratory Center: The specificity of antigen detection can reach 99%, but the specificity of nucleic acid detection method is 100%. Therefore, nucleic acid testing has always been a basis and a “gold standard” for determining new crown infection, so antigen testing cannot replace nucleic acid testing. When the antigen test is positive, nucleic acid testing must be carried out to confirm. However, if the nucleic acid test is positive, regardless of whether the antigen test is negative or positive, the tested person will be treated as a new crown infection or a confirmed patient to take measures.