Image source,Reuters
People in Shanghai are walking on the street wearing protective masks.
Mutant strains of the new crown virus Omicron (Omicron) have been discovered in Tianjin and Guangzhou, China. Therefore, the authorities have further tightened the epidemic prevention measures, hoping to control the epidemic before the arrival of the Chinese New Year and the Beijing Winter Olympics.
As the new crown epidemic has returned in many provinces in China, large-scale nucleic acid tests and lockdowns for epidemic prevention are being carried out in many places. At present, there are still more than 500 confirmed cases in Inner Mongolia, where the epidemic is the worst, while Zhejiang, the main manufacturing province in the south, has more than 200 cases.
In order to avoid the potential risk of infection during the large-scale migration of people during the Spring Festival, governments in many places have called on the people to “Chinese New Year in situ” for the second year in a row.
Tianjin, a port city in northern China, reported the first Omi Keron case in mainland China on Monday (December 13). According to official media reports, the case was a traveller who entered from Europe on December 9 and was under closed-loop control when it was discovered.
According to the report, the relevant departments have performed the whole genome sequencing and sequence analysis of the new coronavirus on this human respiratory specimen. After review by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, it was confirmed that a mutant strain of the new coronavirus Omi Keron was detected. He is currently undergoing isolation and treatment in the hospital.
One day later, the southern city of Guangzhou also reported a positive case of Ome Keron. CCTV News reported that the 67-year-old man was also a foreign immigrant.
According to reports, he received multiple nucleic acid tests during the 14-day quarantine period, and the results were all negative. He was not found carrying the Omi Keron strain until he was quarantined at his home in Yuexiu District, but he has no serious symptoms.
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At the same time, four of the residents near the man’s home tested positive in a large-scale test, but it is not clear whether they were also infected with Omi Keron.
In late November, Hong Kong discovered one of the first cases of Omi Keron variant infection outside of South Africa. The patient was a 36-year-old man who was staying in a designated isolation hotel after arriving in Hong Kong from South Africa.
The Department of Health of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government reported on Tuesday (December 14) that Hong Kong has so far recorded 8 cases of the Omi Keron variant of the new crown virus, but there has been no community transmission.
The WHO stated last Sunday (December 12) that the Omi Keron variants that have been found in more than 70 countries pose a “very high” risk to the world, and said that preliminary evidence indicates that Omi Keron may be It weakens the effectiveness of the vaccine, but it is less likely to cause severe illness.
Chinese New Year in situ
In addition to the invasion of Omi Keron mutant strains, China is also responding to a new round of outbreaks. According to data from China’s National Health Commission, the country has 91 new confirmed cases on Tuesday (December 14), including 39 imported cases and 52 local cases.
In November, an epidemic broke out in Manzhouli City, Inner Mongolia, which borders Mongolia. Subsequently, multiple national nucleic acid tests have been carried out locally, and more than 500 confirmed cases have been screened. The authorities attributed the source of the epidemic to overseas inflows.
Zhejiang Province in the east has also become the hardest-hit area, with more than 230 confirmed cases reported. Local media reported that a moxibustion hall and a funeral were the centers of clustered epidemics in Ningbo and Shaoxing, respectively.
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A security inspector at Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station instructed people to scan the health code.
According to reports, this round of popular delta variants. Health officials said the variant has a higher viral load, is more pathogenic, and may have immune escape.
In order to control the epidemic, many places in Zhejiang announced the closure of chess and card rooms, bars and other entertainment venues, cancellation of large-scale performances and events, and many museums also announced temporary closures. The authorities also put forward the slogans of “postpone happy events, brief funerals, and no banquets.”
China will usher in the Lunar New Year holiday on January 31 next year. Hundreds of millions of people are expected to travel before then. Similar to the policies issued in many places before the Spring Festival this year, many local governments have issued policies calling on foreigners to stay in their place for the Spring Festival next year (February 1, 2022) to reduce the flow of people.
Cities such as Kaifeng, Pingdingshan and Sanmenxia in Henan require migrant workers from outside the province not to return to their hometown unless necessary. In the southwestern Guangxi Pingxiang City, a notice was issued calling on store and shop personnel to celebrate the New Year on the spot and pay New Year’s greetings online.
The Zhangjiakou Economic Development Zone in Hebei Province requires the entire district’s party and government agencies, institutions, and state-owned enterprise employees to set an example, “all celebrate the New Year locally and never leave the country”, try not to leave the local area, and strictly examine and approve if necessary.
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Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province encourages companies to issue “retention red envelopes” to employees who go to work during the Spring Festival. The authorities also stated that it will provide subsidies to non-local employees of some companies working from January 26 to February 10 next year. The standard is 100 yuan per person per day, with a maximum of 500 yuan per person.
Winter Olympics closed loop
The new round of the epidemic also directly challenges the Beijing Winter Olympics, which will open on February 4 next year. Although the authorities have announced a very strict epidemic prevention policy, athletes, referees, reporters and other staff are required to stay in a bubble-like “closed loop” at all times, completely isolated from other citizens.
On Monday (December 13), the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Winter Olympics released the “Epidemic Prevention Manual” for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics, which further provided epidemic prevention measures for Chinese personnel in the closed loop of the Winter Olympics.
According to regulations, Chinese who enter closed-loop work should strictly limit contact with others within 14 days before the game, even if they have been vaccinated. The Chinese residents living in the closed loop of the Winter Olympics must also complete 21 days of isolation after the game.
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Less than two months have passed since the Beijing Winter Olympics.
The organizing committee previously stated that the organization is paying close attention to the related situation of the Omi Keron variant, and continues to observe and evaluate its possible impact on the Beijing Winter Olympics.
In the world, China is one of the few countries that still adopts a strict “zero clearing” policy. However, as the continuous outbreak of the epidemic has slowed down economic activities, the authorities have to accept the reality and turn to “dynamic clearing”.
Liang Wannian, head of the expert group of the China National Health Commission’s Leading Group for Epidemic Response and Handling Work, admitted at a press conference that China is still unable to stop a local case from appearing, but he expressed confidence that when a local case is found. , Quickly put out the epidemic.
“Dynamic zeroing is not the pursuit of’zero infection’, but the pursuit of extinguishing the epidemic as soon as possible,” Liang Wannian said.