A mass nucleic acid testing in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province in August, 2021 Photo: VCG

A number of Chinese cities have lowered the prices of COVID-19 nucleic acid tests at public hospitals, while some plan to do so soon, as part of Chinese authorities' efforts to guide prices to a more affordable range amid a new wave of cases in some places. 

Starting from Friday, the cities of Luoyang and Jiyuan in Central China's Henan Province will cut the price to 30 yuan ($4.73) a person for a single test, and the price for a group will be lowered to 10 yuan per person, from 15 yuan.

Cities in South China's Hainan Province, Southwest China's Sichuan Province and North China's Tianjin Municipality have also reduced prices.

This is not the first time that local health authorities have cut testing prices, to help reduce costs for residents.

In mid-November, China's National Healthcare Security Administration launched a third round of national price adjustments, requiring local authorities to reduce prices in public hospitals by December 15. 

After the adjustment, the price shall not exceed 40 yuan per person for a single test or 10 yuan a person for group tests. 

Massive nucleic acid testing is a key tool to prevent and control the COVID-19 epidemic in China. 

China added medical supplies and medicines used in COVID-19 treatment to the national medical insurance coverage catalog in June 2020, which brought down the prices of nucleic acid tests and antibody tests by more than 70 percent and 40 percent.

Global Times