Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, November 29th
Topic: “Racing” against the more infectious mutant strains——Perspective of the five focal points of the current round of epidemic in Beijing
Xinhua News Agency reporters Wang Minghao, Wu Mengda, Xia Ke
Since mid-November, the number of new cases of the new crown epidemic in Beijing has continued to increase at a high level, and the number of social cases has continued to increase at a high level, with more than 10,000 confirmed cases. With a wide range of influence and great social impact, the capital’s epidemic prevention and control is in a critical period of racing against time and fighting against the virus.
According to epidemiological investigation and laboratory gene sequencing analysis, the Amicron BF.7 mutant strain is the main strain of the current outbreak in Beijing. What are the salient features of the spread of this strain? How is the treatment of confirmed patients? How to improve the scientificity and effectiveness of epidemic prevention measures? Is the protection of public supply in place? How can individuals protect against mutated strains? Focusing on issues of public concern, the reporter interviewed relevant institutions and experts.
Focus 1: What are the notable characteristics of the spread of the Amicron BF.7 mutant strain?
Short incubation period, rapid transmission, strong concealment, and strong immune escape ability are the main characteristics of the transmission of the Aomecron BF.7 mutant strain.
“The sub-branch of Omicron BF.7, which is popular in Beijing at present, can appear in the second generation of cases in 2 to 3 days.” Li Tong, chief physician of the Department of Infectious Diseases of Beijing You’an Hospital and medical expert of Xiaotangshan Fangcang Hospital, once introduced .
Li Tong once said that the primary feature of the BF.7 mutant strain is its enhanced immune escape ability, so that individuals who have been vaccinated or those who have been infected with the new coronavirus in the past may be re-infected even though they have antibodies; the second is the incubation period Shorter and faster transmission, the BF.7 mutant strain mainly causes upper respiratory tract infection, and can be detoxified 1 day after infection, resulting in a rapid increase in the number of infected people.
Viruses are more contagious and contagious, which also brings great challenges to the prevention and control of nosocomial infections. Lu Lianhe, director of the nosocomial infection management department of Beijing Ditan Hospital, said that the hospital has formulated a series of nosocomial infection prevention and control systems, and is also equipped with a mask air tightness tester to ensure the safety of medical staff entering the isolation ward.
Compared with the original strain, the BF.7 mutant strain is more manifested in fever, cough, sore throat, nasal congestion, runny nose, etc. A small number of people may have gastrointestinal symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea, and a very small number of people may experience loss of taste and smell Wait. Li Tong once said that many people have mild symptoms after infection, which has brought “more pressure” on epidemic prevention and control. Some patients felt that they were just tired or caught a cold, so they didn’t pay attention to it and continued to participate in social activities. When they tested positive, it had already triggered transmission. Therefore, nucleic acid testing is a very important screening link, which can detect infected people in time and effectively before symptoms appear, thereby cutting off the chain of transmission in advance.
Focus 2: How is the treatment of confirmed patients?
In the current round of the epidemic in Beijing, there have been clusters of epidemics in densely populated places such as construction sites and schools, and regional transmission has formed. As of now, the number of confirmed cases in the city has exceeded 10,000, and the number of confirmed cases and social cases continues to increase at a high level. Statistically, there are more mild and asymptomatic infections.
For different types of patients, Beijing implements classified treatment and multidisciplinary consultation. Li Tong once introduced that the current treatment of asymptomatic infections is mainly based on health monitoring, and some asymptomatic infections will gradually develop related symptoms, and may even develop into severe cases, so timely monitoring of the development of the disease is required.
The harm caused by the Omicron BF.7 mutant strain to the elderly cannot be underestimated. In this round of the epidemic, the treatment of vulnerable groups such as the elderly has received widespread attention. According to Chen Zhihai, director of the Infectious Disease Clinical Center of Beijing Ditan Hospital, from a clinical point of view, due to the low immune function of the elderly population, most of them suffer from underlying diseases. After being infected with the BF.7 mutant strain, the underlying diseases are significantly worse than before. Li Yanbing, deputy chief physician of the Cardiology Department of Beijing You’an Hospital and director of the new crown ward, said that on the basis of the treatment of new crown virus infection, it is also necessary to ensure the treatment of basic diseases to ensure the stable function of multiple organs of patients.
Beijing also implements classified psychological interventions based on the characteristics of different groups. In the future, it will improve the classified treatment system, scientifically plan and prepare designated hospitals, shelter hospitals, and centralized isolation points to avoid running on medical resources and ensure that patients can be treated with all their strength.
Focus 3: How to improve the scientificity and effectiveness of epidemic prevention?
In the face of ever-increasing cases, it is crucial to improve the scientificity, accuracy, and effectiveness of prevention and control. Beijing proposes to “find it, manage it, provide good service, and guide it well.” It can neither “let go of it at once”, but also resolutely prevent simplification, “overweighting each level” and “one size fits all”.
Some measures taken at critical times, such as the long time of building door closure and opaque unblocking time, have brought a lot of inconvenience to the work and life of the people, and the social response has been great. In this regard, Beijing has made it clear that it is strictly forbidden to use hard enclosures to block fire exits, unit doors, and community doors; in special situations such as medical treatment, emergency avoidance, and ambulance rescue, it is necessary to ensure that the exit channels are unblocked; in principle, the temporary control time does not exceed 24 hours ;Emergency medical personnel are allowed to accompany their family members to the designated medical institutions in a private car “point-to-point”; discharge (cabin) personnel shall not be refused to return to the community for any reason; emergency medical personnel and supply guarantee personnel included in the white list are allowed to hold a pass And 24-hour nucleic acid negative certificate to enter and exit the risk area, etc.
The reporter saw on the 28th in the Chunshuyuan Community of Xicheng District that the blue iron baffles used to isolate the building at the entrance of the building where the case was closed recently have been replaced by movable yellow water barriers, which are convenient for emergency cases. move.
Chaoyang District is the key area of this round of epidemic in Beijing. The deputy head of the district, Yang Beibei, said that communities that meet the conditions for unblocking will be unblocked in time. For epidemic-related risk points, we will also adhere to the requirement of “quick sealing and quick release”. After completing measures such as flow investigation, nucleic acid testing, and environmental disinfection, they will be unsealed in time to minimize the impact on residents’ lives.
According to Wang Xiaoe, spokesperson of the Beijing Municipal Health and Health Commission, at present, Beijing provides guarantees for medical treatment for children, pregnant women, long-term dialysis patients, tumor radiotherapy and chemotherapy patients, and critically ill patients, and responds and solves residents’ medical needs in a timely manner. “Ensure that medical services are not interrupted or delayed, and the safety and health of the people are guaranteed.”
Xu Hejian, spokesperson of the Beijing Municipal Government, said that Beijing must do a good job in the work of the masses in a meticulous and thoughtful manner, deal with appeals related to the epidemic immediately, guarantee basic livelihood services such as medical treatment, and increase care and help for special groups such as the elderly, the weak, the sick, and the disabled. , to solve its practical difficulties in a timely manner.
Focus 4: Is the blockage of citizens’ supply guarantees unblocked?
Under the epidemic situation, the food basket and material supply are related to tens of millions of citizens. Guo Wenjie, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, said that as the number of people staying at home continues to increase, the online demand for daily necessities continues to grow.
The data shows that from the perspective of daily orders, the current average daily order of 3 million orders before the epidemic has increased by 10% to 20%. Affected by the epidemic, some supermarkets and front warehouses have been shut down due to the epidemic. Nearly 30% of riders have been banned, and there are certain restrictions on going out to receive orders and deliveries. Overall, the city’s online platforms currently have sufficient goods and stable prices, but some areas and time periods have already experienced shortages of transportation capacity and delays in delivery.
To this end, Beijing requires that supermarket stores and e-commerce platform front warehouses should be fully open and the goods should be sufficient. In order to meet the needs of the people’s livelihood, the outlets of the supply guarantee sites should be opened as much as possible, and the stocking volume should be increased by 3 to 5 times the daily amount. For the supply guarantee outlets involved in the epidemic, it is required to be quickly sealed and released. In principle, the disposal is completed within 24 hours and reopened, and the closing time is no more than 72 hours. At the same time, a green pass mechanism for guaranteed supply vehicles has been established to ensure 24-hour uninterrupted replenishment at each outlet, so that there will be no empty shelves and no continuous supply.
The reporter visited the Beijing Xinfadi market and some large supermarkets in recent days, and saw that the wholesale market has sufficient supplies, and the supermarket shelves are full of daily necessities such as rice, flour, grain, oil, meat, poultry, eggs, milk, vegetables and fruits.
In response to the problem of unblocking the “last 100 meters”, Beijing has established a “white list” mechanism for guarantee personnel. Guo Wenjie introduced that in the past two weeks, the “white list” of guarantees has rapidly expanded from 5,000 to 40,000. Supply guarantee companies also support key areas by sharing employees and cross-regional support. According to Hang Bing, the person in charge of Meituan Maicai, Meituan has launched “cross-border support” for employees in other industries. At present, 200 catering employees in Beijing have “cross-border support” for meituan grocery shopping, sorting, handling and other easy-to-use positions, covering Beijing’s Daxing District, Chaoyang District, Shijingshan District, Tongzhou District, Shunyi District and other Meituan grocery shopping sites.
Beijing has also established an emergency guarantee mechanism for vegetable through trains. At present, 15 through-train companies have a total of 356 municipal-level registered vegetable through-trains, which can provide direct supply of vegetables and other daily necessities to about 500 communities and meet the needs of 3 million residents. In addition, 50 postal vehicles have been prepared to form a reserve mobile force, which can be put into distribution at any time.
Focus 5: Infectiousness increases, is it still useful to wear a mask for vaccination?
Some members of the public have questioned whether vaccination is still necessary as the infectivity of the new coronavirus has increased.
Li Tong once said that in the face of the Amicron BF.7 mutant strain, although the effect of vaccination to prevent infection has declined, it can greatly reduce the incidence of severe illness and reduce the fatality rate. Especially the elderly or people with underlying diseases, as long as they are not allergic to the vaccine or in the acute attack stage of the disease, they can receive the new crown vaccine, and they must complete the booster vaccination to obtain better protection.
Mutant strains are more contagious, are ordinary masks still useful? Li Tong once said that ordinary medical surgical masks are not close enough to the face, while N95 masks fit the contours of the face better, with strong airtightness and better protection effect. When socializing, if both parties wear masks, the risk of infection can be greatly reduced. If you go to places with higher risks, such as hospitals or places with poor air flow, and when taking public transportation, it is recommended to wear masks with higher protection levels to reduce the risk of infection.
In addition, citizens should pay attention to staggering peaks and keep a safe distance when queuing up for nucleic acid testing. Do not take off the mask immediately after the sampling by the personnel in front, but wait until the staff is ready to take out the throat swab before taking off the mask. After the sampling is completed, put on the mask and leave the testing team immediately.
In the face of the more contagious mutant strains, the interviewed experts said that there is no outsider in the face of the epidemic, and everyone is the first person responsible for their own health. It is recommended that citizens cooperate with epidemic prevention, reduce gatherings, and do a good job of monitoring the health of themselves and their families.
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责编：李伯玺 ]