China bans unauthorized tests, research in COVID-19 experiments
A researcher works in a lab in Yongchuan district of Chongqing, on December 16, 2022, at a health industrial park. PHOTO XINHUA The Beijing Municipal Health Commission said on Wednesday that all experiments related to COVID 19 must be approved in advance by local or national health authorities, emphasizing that unauthorized tests and research are strictly prohibited.
The National Health Commission released a notice about the need to improve biosecurity measures with the novel coronaviruses, according to a recent notice by the health commission.
Laboratory activities, such as novel coronaviruses cultivation, nucleic acid testing, and infection experiments on animals, can only be carried out after regulatory approval is obtained for each of them. Activities exceeding the range of experiments that have gained approval are forbidden, according to the city's health commission.
It also emphasised that efforts should be made to conduct risk assessments, enforce personal protective measures to prevent cross-infection at laboratories and increase training of laboratory workers.
Special storage rooms must be set up to keep viral strains or samples of the novel coronaviruses. Each room must be equipped with surveillance devices and secured with two locks, overseen by two guards.
Authorization to transport potentially contaminated samples or potentially viral strains should be obtained in advance, according to the health commission.
District-level health authorities are required to monitor institutions that work with viral strains, monitor all experiments they conduct and keep an eye on the condition of the viral strains and test or research samples they handle.
The health commission said that oversight and inspections should be stepped up to protect biosafety risks.
In a notice on Jan 17, the National Health Commission said that China is facing a new situation and new tasks related to biosecurity due to the optimization of its COVID 19 measures.
The National Health Commission said that cultivation of the novel coronaviruses and animal infection experiments should be handled in a P 3 laboratory — the second-highest biosafety level in a four-tier system — or a laboratory with higher precautions in place.
Activities involving uncultured, infectious materials and inactivated materials should be conducted at P 2 or higher level laboratories. In addition to that, designated personnel should be assigned to manage and record information on infectious strains and viral strains in storage rooms.
After the experiment is completed, lab workers should transfer viral strains to depository facilities within six months or promptly destroy them. The national commission's notice said that infectious samples should be destroyed or inactivated immediately.
It added that if a novel mutation is isolated in a laboratory, the strain should be sent to a depository institution within 90 days.
China had 63 P 3 and P 4 laboratories and 46,000 P 2 laboratories in August of last year to handle pathogens that can infect humans, according to the national commission.
Liu Dengfeng, an official with the commission's Department of Health Science, Technology and Education, said during a previous interview that authorities have been attaching great importance to increasing biosecurity at laboratories and strengthening regular supervision.