On the evening of October 7, the Office of the Municipal COVID-19 Prevention and Control Command issued the "Shaoguan COVID-19 Prevention and Control Command Command Order (No. 1), pointing out that there are currently many confirmed cases of imported COVID-19 from other places with multiple sources and multiple chains in our city, causing continuous positive cases in local areas. There are two main chains that have had an impact on our city, namely the BF.7 evolutionary branch of the Omickron mutant strain and the BA.5.1.7 evolutionary branch. It is a highly contagious and extremely fast-transmissing mutant strain. Among them, the BA.5.1.7 evolution branch is the first time it has been detected in mainland my country. How powerful are the BF.7 evolutionary branches and BA.5.1.7 evolutionary branches? How does it spread? What targeted protective measures do citizens have? On the 8th, the reporter interviewed Li Shujian, deputy director of Shaoguan Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
▶How powerful are the Omickron mutant strains in our city?
Li Shujian introduced that the evolutionary branch of the Omickron mutant strain BF.7 is stronger than other strains, and is more contagious, diffusive and escape-free, which is very easy to cause large-scale transmission, and the difficulty of handling and controlling the epidemic has increased exponentially than before. Symptoms shown after infection of the BF.7 variant strain include high fever, persistent cough, physical pain, headache, sore throat, altered smell and loss of appetite. Although BF.7 has enhanced transmission power, asymptomatic patients and mild patients are mostly used, so it is easy to "sneak" in the population.
Studies have shown that BF.7 may be the mutant strain with the strongest immune escape ability so far. BF.7 is the third most common variant in the United States with the current rate of new coronavirus detection. In Europe, the cases caused by BF.7 are also spreading rapidly; in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, my country, since September 28, the number of new positive cases in this round of BF.7 epidemic has exceeded 600 in a single day, and the cumulative number of reported cases has exceeded 1,800. Some scholars predict that BF.7 may become a popular mutant strain this fall and winter.
Li Shujian said that after a strict epidemiological investigation , it can be confirmed that Chen Mouming, the first transmission chain case in our city, returned to Shaoxing from Hohhot on September 30. He did not strictly implement relevant epidemic prevention regulations. He walked to public places without wearing a mask and spitting everywhere, which infected several passers-by, causing the mutant strain BF.7 he carried to cause a major risk of transmission in the social situation of our city.
It is particularly noteworthy that the evolutionary branch of BA.5.1.7, a variant of another transmission chain in our city, was detected for the first time in mainland my country. No other sequences with less differences were found in the positive cases previously reported in the mainland. According to , WHO notice, BA.5 has stronger transmission ability and faster transmission than previous strains, and has stronger infectiousness and immune escape. Currently, BA.5 has been detected in more than 100 countries/regions around the world, replacing BA.2 as the main popular strain in the world. Due to its extremely contagious nature, a dinner party on October 1 tied many positive cases in our city to the same transmission chain.
▶How to effectively block the virus by strengthening epidemic prevention and control measures?
Li Shujian said that although the two viruses that currently affect our city are highly contagious, transmissive and immune escape ability, they all need to be transmitted, such as close contact and living in the same space.
"At this stage, we have decisively taken temporary measures to strengthen epidemic prevention and control. The purpose is to slow down the social operation of the main urban areas of Wujiang District and Zhenjiang District, which have been found to have more cases, reduce the gathering of people, and thus cut off the virus transmission channels and reduce the risk of epidemic spread." Li Shujian said that the current battle between our city and the epidemic is in a stalemate, and the prevention and control situation is severe and complex. Social screening found that there are still hidden cases to bring uncertainty to the city's epidemic prevention and control. Regional nucleic acid screening is a powerful means to promptly detect potentially infected people. If the screening coverage is insufficient, it will delay the time for epidemic detection. Among the cases found now, several cases did not participate in each round of nucleic acid screening as required, further amplifying the risk of epidemic transmission.
Li Shujian also said that at this stage, in-depth implementation of circulation investigation is the most effective means to quickly control the spread of viruses.He called on the general public to pay close attention to the trajectory of cases released by the Municipal Epidemic Prevention and Control Office, especially the places and sections involved in the two transmission chains announced by our city, actively compare and report relevant contact history. If you receive a call from an epidemic investigation personnel, you should immediately wear a mask and wait in place away from the crowd; actively participate in the regional nucleic acid test . If you cannot go out due to physical reasons, you should report to the community as soon as possible and arrange door-to-door nucleic acid services. After receiving the transfer notice, close contacts should wait at home. Those who are active outside should wear masks and return home immediately. Do not take public transportation during this period. The next close contact person should monitor his health at home. If he finds symptoms such as fever, he should notify community staff as soon as possible, and go to the fever clinic for treatment with his assistance. Do not take medicine on his own.
▶What should we do in the face of new mutant strains?
Although BF.7 is more contagious than the existing mutant strain, wearing a mask is still a very effective personal protection measure. Li Shujian pointed out that autumn and winter seasons are not only the new coronary pneumonia, but also the peak season for a variety of respiratory infectious diseases, such as influenza , mumps , rubella , etc. Scientific wearing of masks can effectively reduce the risk of transmission, prevent the spread of the epidemic, and reduce cross-infection. It is also the simplest, most convenient and most economical prevention and control measures. In addition, insisting on washing hands frequently, ventilating regularly, using separate meals, using public chopsticks, and maintaining a "1-meter line" social distance are all effective measures for citizens to resist the virus. If citizens have symptoms of discomfort such as fever, fatigue, dry cough, etc., they must take prevention and control measures and go to the nearest medical institution for treatment as soon as possible.
(Original title: Very contagious! The BA.5.1.7 evolutionary branch was detected for the first time in mainland China)
Source: Shaoguan Release
Process Edit: TF060
