Original title: Global War Epidemic | Omi Keron continues to spread, Zhong Nanshan and Zhang Boli’s latest judgment
With more than 30 mutated amino acids in key proteins, the new coronavirus mutant strain “Omi Keron” was quickly designated as a “variant strain of concern” (VOC) by the WHO.
On the 11th, the spokesperson of the National Health Commission Mi Feng introduced at the press conference of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council that the current global pandemic of the new crown pneumonia epidemic is still in the development stage, and the Omi Keron variant has further increased the uncertainty of the epidemic. , my country’s “foreign defense import” pressure continues to increase. Wu Liangyou, deputy director of the CDC of the National Health Commission, introduced that the Omi Keron mutant strain does not affect the sensitivity and specificity of the existing nucleic acid detection reagents in my country, and my country’s surveillance system is capable of timely detection of imported cases of the Omi Keron mutant strain. ability.
Up to now, 3 cases of Omi Kiron strain infection have been reported in Taiwan, and 13 cases of Omi Kiron strain infection have been confirmed in Japan. South Africa’s Health Minister Joe Fahra said that preliminary evidence shows that the Omi Kiron strain may have a higher risk of secondary infections than other variants of the new coronavirus that “need attention”.
National Health Commission: Omi Keron mutant strain further increases the uncertainty of the epidemic
On December 11, the spokesperson of the National Health Commission Mi Feng introduced at the press conference of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council that the current global pandemic of the new crown pneumonia epidemic is still in the development stage, and the number of new confirmed cases per week continues to exceed 4 million, and the death rate There has been an increase, the Omi Keron mutant strain has further increased the uncertainty of the epidemic, and my country’s “foreign defense import” pressure continues to increase.
my country has the ability to detect imported cases of Omi Keron mutant strains in time
On the afternoon of December 11, the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council held a press conference to introduce the recent situation of the prevention and control of the new crown pneumonia epidemic and vaccination. At the meeting, Wu Liang, deputy director of the Disease Control Bureau of the National Health Commission, introduced that at present, whether the Omi Keron mutant has a stronger spreading power and immune escape risk than the Delta mutant requires further observation. The Omi Keron variant does not affect the sensitivity and specificity of our country’s existing nucleic acid detection reagents. Our surveillance system has the ability to detect imported cases of the Omi Keron variant in a timely manner.
Zhong Nanshan: “Omi Keron” allows the world to slowly realize that China’s approach is right
At the Life Science Sub-forum of the 2021 Greater Bay Area Science Forum, Zhong Nanshan, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and director of the Guangzhou Laboratory, talked about the development trend and response of the new coronavirus strain Omi Keron and many other topics.
“The discovery of the new strain of Omi Keron has brought new problems, but many countries attach great importance to it and adopt strict control measures. This shows that from the anti-epidemic practice in the past two years, the world has gradually realized that China’s approach is correct. Yes.” Zhong Nanshan said.
Zhong Nanshan talked about Omi Keron, a mutant strain of the new crown. “I don’t know what happened after Omi Keron came out. The prevalence and fatality rate in some countries are still relatively high. Why? Because our technology has not reached that level.”
Zhong Nanshan pointed out that we have talked a lot about “human-to-human transmission” and respiratory transmission. But where does this virus come from? How to pass it on to humans? It is still unclear how the aerosol spreads. In order to be able to detect the patient’s condition faster and earlier and find its therapeutic target, we still need to conduct more in-depth research on vaccines and drugs. This requires the joint efforts of domestic and foreign countries in this aspect, especially related interdisciplinary disciplines.
Zhang Boli: Next spring, from a global perspective, the epidemic will ease
Zhang Boli, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that now some foreign experts have suggested that the new crown epidemic may go to normal, especially after the emergence of Omi Keron. Although everyone is very nervous, we have also seen that although Omi Keron has more mutations and is more contagious, we have not seen its toxicity increase.
At present, it is still mainly mild, with muscle aches, fatigue, mild cough, and even some asymptomatic. Zhang Boli said that the virus has mutated more, but the overall performance has not increased its toxicity, which is in line with the evolution of general respiratory infectious viruses. “Some people say that it is a manifestation of the end of the new crown virus, but we have to look at it and observe it closely. Generally speaking, it cannot be taken lightly.” Zhang Boli said that from now on, all cases in China are directly or indirectly imported, whether it is person-to-person or material-to-person, from now on, strict prevention and control are required, especially before the Winter Olympics. .
But he said that with the warmth of spring and the end of the Winter Olympics, “I think from a global perspective, the epidemic will ease. At that time, our country may adopt some relatively loose policies or measures. People It may be more convenient in terms of transportation and tourism. Of course, it will not be completely liberalized. Complete liberalization will depend on the overall situation of the world, especially in some African countries. Now its vaccination rate is only 10%. Don’t worry. I probably don’t expect to see the resolution until the end of next year.”
Kexing Company: Successfully isolated Omi Keron mutant strain and completed gene sequencing
On December 11, Kexing Holding Biotechnology Co., Ltd. stated that it had obtained the new crown virus Omicron (Omicron) variant on December 5 with the assistance of relevant national ministries and commissions, relevant departments of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and partners. Nasopharyngeal swab specimens from infected persons, and the team of Professor Qin Chuan from the Institute of Medical Laboratory Animals of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences carried out virus isolation and full-gene sequencing work. So far, the Omi Keron mutant strain has been successfully isolated and the sequencing results have been obtained.
At the same time, Kexing Company introduced a sample of the Omi Keron mutant strain isolated from the University of Hong Kong, which arrived in Beijing on the afternoon of December 9 and transferred it to the P3 Laboratory of the Institute of Medical Laboratory Animals of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences for research.
Kexing said that after obtaining the new crown virus Omi Keron variant, it can better guarantee the development of vaccine cross-neutralization tests and vaccine strain screening, so as to understand the effect of the Omi Keron variant on the existing new crown vaccine. Impact, and then to evaluate the necessity of developing a vaccine against a variant strain of the new coronavirus Omi Keron.
Taiwan adds 2 more imported cases of Omi Keron strain
The Taiwan Epidemic Command Center announced on the evening of December 11 that Taiwan has added two new imported cases of Omi Keron strain. The two cases entered the country from the United Kingdom and the United States respectively, and both of them had been fully vaccinated against Pfizer.
At present, Taiwan has reported 3 cases of Omi Kiron strain infection, all of which were imported cases. Two of them received two doses of Pfizer vaccine and one received AstraZeneca and Modena vaccines, all of which were “breakthrough infections.” “Breakthrough infection” refers to those who have been vaccinated more than 14 days after the completion of vaccination that test positive for the new coronavirus.
Japan confirms the 13th case of Omi Kiron strain infection
According to news from the Japan Broadcasting Association (NHK) on the 11th, a man who had stayed in Sri Lanka was diagnosed with the Omi Keron strain.
So far, 13 cases of Omi Kiron strain infection have been confirmed in Japan.
The number of cases infected with Omi Keron strain rises to 33 in India
According to an Indian media report on December 11, on the same day, New Delhi discovered a case of Omi Kiron strain returned from Zimbabwe, bringing India to 33 cases of Omi Kiron strain.
Currently, the state of Maharashtra has the highest number of cases infected with the Omi Keron strain, reaching 17 people. The Mumbai City Government decided to ban gatherings of people for two days over the weekend.
The number of infections with the Omi Keron strain in the UK increases to 1265
On December 10, local time, the latest data released by the British Health and Safety Agency showed that in the past 24 hours, there were 448 new cases of Omi Kiron strain infection in the UK, and the cumulative number of infections reached 1,265. Among them, 1139 cases were in England; 110 cases were in Scotland; 13 cases were in Wales; 3 cases were in Northern Ireland.
Omi Keron will soon become the main strain spreading in the UK
The British Health and Safety Agency said on the 10th that the mutant new crown virus Omi Keron strain is more transmissible than the Delta strain. If it continues to grow at the current rate, by mid-December, Omi Kiron strain infections will account for more than 50% of new cases in the UK, becoming the main strain spreading in the country.
The British Health and Safety Agency issued a statement that day that the analysis of 581 confirmed cases of Omi Kiron strain infection showed that AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines are more effective in preventing infections by this strain than Delta strains. Much lower. However, preliminary data shows that the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing symptomatic infections of the Omi Kiron strain appears to increase significantly in the early stages after the booster shot, reaching 70% to 75%.
However, due to the very small number of cases in this analysis, Mary Ramsay, the head of immunization at the British Health Security Agency, pointed out that these data should be treated with caution.
The number of Omi Keron strain infections in Denmark increases to 1,280
On December 10, local time, according to a report by Danish Radio and Television, data released by the Danish National Serum Institute showed that Denmark has accumulated 1,280 cases of Omi Keron strain infection.
There have been cases of Omi Kiron strain infection in 25 states in the U.S.
Up to now, cases of Omi Keron strain infection have been found in 25 states in the United States. Health officials predict that this number will continue to increase in the coming weeks.
According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the United States was responding to the wave of Delta strain infections when Omi Kiron strain infections appeared, which has increased the number of confirmed cases in the United States by more than 100,000.
Canadian predictive model shows that confirmed cases will increase sharply in the next few weeks
On December 10, local time, the new crown prediction model issued by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) indicated that in the next few weeks, under the dual influence of the two mutant strains of Delta and Ome Keron, the confirmed cases of new crown pneumonia in Canada will Dramatic increase.
The Public Health Agency of Canada believes that the basic number of infections in Canada has now exceeded one, which means that the epidemic is on the increase again. According to forecasts, if the Omi Keron strain continues to maintain the current level of transmission, by January 2022, the number of confirmed cases in Canada may reach 12,000 new cases per day. At the worst time of the country’s epidemic, there were only 10,209 newly confirmed cases in a single day.
Health officials in Kingston, Canada suspect that Omi Kiron strain has spread in Canada
The chief medical officer of the Kingston Health District in Ontario, Canada, said on December 10 that the Omi Kiron strain may have spread in Canada before November 28.
A case of Omi Kiron strain infection with no recent travel history was confirmed in the Kingston area on December 7. After several days of investigation, the local health department stated to the media via email on the 10th that most of the new cases in this area may have been infected with the Omi Keron strain, and further complete genetic sequencing is needed to confirm the diagnosis. .
Piotr Oglaza, a medical officer in the region, said that although the case has just been detected less than a week ago, it is likely to occur before the first set of related cases in Canada. This case showed symptoms on November 28. Considering that the case has no recent travel history, this also means that the Omi Keron strain has already spread in Canada.
South African Ministry of Health: Omi Kiron strain may increase the risk of secondary infection with new crown
South African Health Minister Joe Fahra said on the 10th that preliminary evidence shows that the risk of secondary infection caused by the Omi Kiron strain may be higher than other variants of the new coronavirus that “need attention”.
Fahra said at the new crown epidemic press conference that this means that for people who have been infected with the new crown virus, the Omi Kiron strain may be more likely to reinfect them than other strains. However, he said that researchers still need to collect further evidence to make more accurate judgments.
Many people in the medical profession in South Africa said that they found that most people infected with the Omi Kiron strain had mild symptoms, and the symptoms would be relieved quickly if treated in time. Dr. Hu Zijing, a master’s tutor at the University of Johannesburg, said that he has treated about 300 patients with COVID-19 since the epidemic. Clinical observations show that the Delta strain is more dangerous, with a higher rate of hospitalization and severe illness among infected patients. In contrast, most people infected with Omi Keron strain have mild symptoms, and their clinical symptoms disappear faster.
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