BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s top legislature said on Friday it had passed a bill to quicken the country’s public health emergency responses by expanding reporting channels for declaring an emergency, enabling individuals to bypass the usual hierarchical structure.
The law will take effect from November 1, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, Beijing requires faster local action for public health emergencies and improved early detection and containment.
Any individual or unit who discovers a public health emergency can bypass intermediate levels to report the incident to the local government or the disease prevention and control agency, according to a draft of the law.
After a public health emergency occurs, the county level government where the incident takes place should immediately initiate response efforts and can report to an even higher authority if needed, the draft says.
During an emergency response to a public health event, local governments at or above the county level should provide basic medical services, offer special care and ensure medical care, it says.
(Reporting by Farah Master in Hong Kong and Ryan Woo in Beijing; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Tom Hogue)
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