I recently had a Covid test, just being safe. There was no line at the Medical College Hospital. It took about five minutes. The results were available within 24 hours and the total cost was less than 14 US dollars. The results are below:
It is troubling that in the USA I have heard of prices from $300 to $500 for tests that are not as efficient. I have heard of insurances that have charged the US goverment $2000 and more for such tests. Note that there are two “genes” tested for which helps avoid false positives or false negatives. Apparently both genes are present in the case of a positive Covid-19 test. Because China is taking the virus seriously, and has scaled up both training and equipment, there costs are significantly lower than in the USA. As reported below, there has been a recent outbreak in Beijing, associated with one of Asia’s largest food markets. I have confirmed from a Shanghai friend that Shanghai life is still relatively “normal” as is Guiyang.
In China there is a newsletter for foreign teachers, and here is their recent coverage on Beijing’s status. Taken from a Wechat Blog . . .
Beijing conducts mass testing
5 days ago
Beijing tightened measures to cope with the new cluster of local COVID-19 infections as the number of confirmed cases in the city rose to 79 from Thursday to Sunday and up to 100,000 social workers joined communities’ epidemic control work.
The capital reported 36 new patients with COVID-19 on Sunday, the majority of whom worked at or had been to Xinfadi wholesale market in Beijing’s southern Fengtai district. In addition to the confirmed cases, another seven are asymptomatic infections under medical observation.
Xu Hejian, a spokesman for the municipal government, said this outbreak is closely related to the Xinfadi market, and the government will employ the strictest investigation to find the source of the infection and curb the spread of the virus.
Nearly 8,000 people who run businesses or make purchases in Xinfadi had received nucleic acid tests by Sunday and have been transferred to isolation locations for centralized medical observation.
Up to 90,000 residents living in 21 communities near Xinfadi and Yuquandong-another market whose operations have been suspended due to the new COVID-19 infections in the capital-are receiving nucleic acid tests. All those communities are closed and under strict management.
Around 200,000 people had been to Xinfadi since May 30 based on a citywide data collection campaign. Those people will get nucleic acid tests and, meanwhile, must stay at home for self-observation.
“By 2 pm on Sunday, we had completed nucleic acid testing for 29,386 people who had visited the Xinfadi market in the past 14 days,” said Gao Xiaojun, a spokesman for the Beijing Health Commission. “Out of all the samples, 12,973 came negative and the rest are awaiting results.”
“Beijing will raise the prevention level of all communities by resuming temperature checks before entering and disinfection of public areas,” said Xu Ying, an official at the city’s antivirus leading work group. “Places for cultural events and entertainment will suspend operations,” Xu added.
He said that on Monday, nearly 100,000 social workers were mobilized in 7,120 communities and villages in Beijing to help fight COVID-19.
This is photo is a recent picture of the New Zealand Primer Minister. New Zealand has been very unkind to the Covid-19 Virus. By explaining the risk and options to her countrymen she was able to enforce a lock-down that effectively destroyed all “safe havens” for the Covid-19 Virus in New Zealand. She was on TV talking about the Virus when an earthquake hit. She looked up and smiled as if to say “only a little earthquake”. There are times when I wish she was on our team in the USA.