(Yicai Global) Nov. 2 -- Recently, a number of counties and cities in provinces including Guizhou, Hunan and Sichuan have issued notices saying that they will start charging for nucleic acid testing.

In May this year, amid local outbreaks of the more transmissible Omicron variant, many cities and provinces announced free testing, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hangzhou.

In the early days of the pandemic in 2020, it cost up to CNY200 (USD27.48) to get a test, but the price has since fallen to around CNY10 per person. Having a negative test is required for numerous aspects of normal life, such as travel.

Yueyang City in Hunan province released a statement on November 1 saying it would charge CNY4 (USD0.55) per test, which was confirmed by the local authorities to Yicai Global.

Many counties and districts in Guizhou province and Yibin in Sichuan province have issued similar notices, as have some counties and districts in Longnan and Jiuquan in Gansu province, and some districts and towns in Huizhou in Guangdong, charging up to CNY16 (USD2.20) per person for a single test.

People must hold a negative nucleic acid test certificate obtained within the previous 72 hours to go to bars, hotels or tourist attractions since May in most provinces. However, the Covid-19 test results are not needed any more when people are traveling by train or plane in some areas, according to some local notices released recently.

Editor: Tom Litting