Some cities in China have announced the cancellation of mass nucleic acid testing after the State Council's Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism against COVID-19 issued a circular on Friday to further optimize the COVID-19 response through 20 prevention and control measures.

In Dalian, Liaoning province, the city's COVID-19 prevention and control headquarters announced on Monday that the routine regional nucleic acid testing on every Tuesday and Friday would be suspended. It said that the city had implemented and optimized its prevention and control measures in accordance with the requirements of the newly released circular.

The circular said that nucleic acid testing should be done for people working in high-risk positions or in key groups in regions with no infections. Expanding test coverage is forbidden under the ninth edition of country's COVID-19 control protocols.

On Sunday, the health authorities of Yanji, Jilin province, issued a notice announcing the suspension of mass nucleic acid testing. On Nov 7, the city said it would carry out a round of nucleic acid tests in designated sub-districts and towns within a week.

In Hefei, Anhui province, the city's COVID-19 prevention and control headquarters told Hefei Fabu, the WeChat account of the city's information office, that in principle mass nucleic acid testing will not be carried out as usual.

Only when the source of infection and transmission chain is unclear, or has a longer community transmission period, will mass testing be conducted, the headquarters said.