China has said it will for the first time allow the general public to use Covid-19 antigen self-test kits that do not need medical workers to take samples, in a bid to augment its testing regime that has been put under pressure by Omicron.

The general public will be able to buy self-test kits in stores and online, while medical institutions can offer antigen tests that require samples collected by professionals, the National Health Commission (NHC) said on its website.

Those who test positive using antigen tests should report to staffers at community authority and go through nucleic acid tests for confirmation, the NHC statement said.