Beijing to strengthen testing site inspections for quality control

Beijing will strengthen supervision over COVID-19 nucleic acid testing agencies and uphold "zero tolerance" toward fraud, an official from the Beijing Municipal Health Commission said on Thursday.

The commission will pay close attention to the qualifications of third-party testing agencies in accordance with regulations.

Two rounds of inspections by authorities at the city and district level are required before granting qualification certificates. At the city level, biology security inspection experts carry out an on-site review before allowing agencies to begin nucleic acid tests, Li Ang, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Health Commission, said at a news conference.

Quality control management must be employed on regular basis and a third-party evaluation system must also be established.

Beijing carried out a citywide on-site examination of all testing institutions to strengthen management of the whole procedure following illegal testing activities reported in recent weeks.

The National Medical Products Administration, China's top drug regulator, released a notice saying it will severely punish any institutions found to be operating without certificates, violating regulations on equipment storage and shipment or using substandard or expired testing kits.

In recent weeks, several testing companies in Beijing have reportedly committed fraud with behavior like intentionally misplacing specimens.