Home quarantine for asymptomatic COVID-19 cases a possibility: expert

Home quarantine for asymptomatic cases might be a viable option, Chen Erzhen, vice president of Ruijin Hospital and head of Shanghai's central quarantine treatment team, remarked in a recent interview with the People's Daily.

"Subject to future development, in case of too many asymptomatic cases, those who meet certain conditions could be placed in home quarantine," said Chen.

This entails some commensurate restrictive measures for those staying home, relating chiefly to personal compliance with stated rules.

Chen observed that as this is a kind of home quarantine, the persons in question should stay indoors, in strict reference to relevant protocol.

"One must follow closely relevant personal preventive measures, for failure to comply might well mean the failure to achieve the desired effect of containing the contagion," said Chen.

In reports of COVID-19 cases, one peculiarity stands out: the percentage of asymptomatic cases in Shanghai are considerably higher compared with figures from other parts of the country.

Chen attributed this to a number of factors, but ruled out the speculation that Shanghai had adopted a distinct diagnostic metrics of its own.

The expert observed that a number of factors could account for the higher proportion of asymptomatic cases in Shanghai.

First of all, it has to do with mass screenings conducted recently in the city. While confirmed cases with symptoms are as a rule detected at hospitals, early cases without symptoms are generally identified during routine screening.

Secondly, the relatively higher vaccination rates in the city, and some traits characterizing the affected people, might also be considered.

But Chen also pointed out that the percentage of symptomatic cases has gone up in recent days, to about 10 percent of the whole cases, with the increment chiefly contributed by cases previously identified as asymptomatic, and already placed under quarantine.

The current BA.2 sub-lineage of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is more infectious but less virulent. Thus although the scale of the current breakout is more considerable than that in Wuhan, the current strain is less pathogenic.

This changed circumstance has created difficulties of its own.

"The growing number of asymptomatic cases has added to the difficulty in terms of containment," Chen observed. He added that judging by the current situation, Shanghai has been handling the treatment of patients in a relatively smooth manner, in strict adherence to the principle of "admitting all those that should be treated," and "placing in lockdown all those that should be isolated."

Commenting on the observation that, so far in Shanghai, there has not yet emerged a single severe case, Chen elaborated on the criteria of determining the severity of COVID-19 cases.

Severe cases are chiefly determined by the symptom of respiratory failure and some other indicators, such as the degree of injury sustained by impacted organs, both observable in earlier COVID-19 cases. Given the mutation of COVID-19 virus, different strains are changing in their virulence.

Symptoms of current COVID-19 cases are predominantly respiratory, with cases of pulmonary infections extremely rare, and no instance of respiratory failure.

Chen said exceptions must be made for senior-age cases who, given the declining function of their organs, their conditions might be highly risky in the case of a COVID-19 attack.

"We are well prepared for such extreme cases, for perception of the issue in all its complications and aggravations is exactly one principle in light of which our medical resources are deployed," Chen said.