Reporter’s notebook: home test kit takes headache out of Beijing healthcare

When I woke up with a sore throat and fever in Beijing earlier this month, the last thing I wanted to do was go to a hospital. Even though the nearest public facility is just a 15-minute walk from my flat, I didn’t have the energy to leave my bed, let alone endure the long queues, crowds and cumbersome procedures that come with a hospital visit. In fact, I suspected I had contracted the virus that was causing my symptoms from a trip to that very hospital four days earlier, as it was the only...