Many countries have upgraded prevention and control measures to respond to the epidemic

Source: People's Daily

Multinational countries upgrade prevention and control measures to respond to the epidemic (international perspective)

Core reading

In recent days, in order to prevent the spread of the Aumechjong strain, many countries around the world have increased monitoring efforts and strengthened prevention and control measures. Experts pointed out that mass vaccination is still an effective means to reduce the rate of mutation of the new crown virus, and the international community needs to continue to work hard to solve the problem of unfair distribution of vaccines.

On 7 December, the World Health Organization released a weekly epidemiological report on COVID-19, which found that the Aumecreon strain has been present in 57 countries and regions, and most of the cases are travel-related. The discovery of the Omiljung strain has made the global epidemic prevention and control situation more severely challenging. Preliminary assessments suggest that the global risk posed by the Aumechjong strain is "very high". WHO is calling on countries to conduct further research and take public health measures such as increased vaccination and social distancing to contain the spread of the outbreak.

The Omiljun strain spreads at an accelerated rate

Since the first mutant strain of the new coronavirus was detected from a case sample in South Africa on 9 November, the number of cases of the Omilon strain has appeared in many countries in the past few weeks. Early indications are that the Olmikeron strain is more transmissive than the Delta strain.

"Because of the newly discovered mutant new coronavirus Olmiquerong strain, Nan informally entered the fourth wave of the new crown pneumonia epidemic." South African Minister of Health Fahra recently introduced that on November 25, the daily increase in confirmed cases in South Africa was 2465, but on December 2, it has risen to 11535 cases, and the positive test rate has also soared from 1%-2% two weeks ago to 22%, and the growth rate is far more than the previous three peaks. Zambia's health minister, Massebo, announced on December 4 that the country had found the Omiljun strain for the first time in the country, and genome sequencing of samples of recently confirmed patients showed that 3 people were infected with the Omilkejong strain.

At present, the Olmikeron strain has spread rapidly in Europe. Belgium is the first European country to report the detection of cases of Infection in Omiqueron. Subsequently, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and other European countries also reported the discovery of the strain. As of 7 December, the UK has reported more than 400 cumulative cases of Infection with the Olmirkron strain. Health Secretary Javid confirmed that the Infection of the Aumechjong strain in the UK was initially associated with international travel and subsequently began to spread in the community.

U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention Warrensky said on Dec. 7 that 19 of the 50 U.S. states have reported cases of Infection with the Omikejun strain, and "this number is expected to continue to increase." She said the latest data show that more than 99% of the confirmed cases in the United States belong to the Delta strain, and it is not yet known whether the Olmiqueron strain will replace the dominance of the Delta strain.

According to a December 4 announcement issued by the Health Authority of the Valparaiso Region of Chile, the first patient found to be infected with the Omilton strain entered Chile from the West African country of Ghana on November 25 and is currently in quarantine. The Mexican Ministry of Health issued a notice on the 3rd that the country found the first case of Infection with the Omiqueron strain, and is currently receiving treatment in a hospital in the capital Mexico City.

The Central Epidemic Prevention Countermeasures Headquarters of the Republic of Korea reported on December 8 that as of 00:00 on the 8th, there were 2 new cases of Infection with the Omiljung strain in a single day in South Korea, with a total of 38 cases.

Many countries have tightened their entry and epidemic prevention policies

In order to prevent the spread of the mutated virus, many countries have further upgraded prevention and control measures, urgently cancelled flights, restricted the entry of passengers, and promoted vaccination.

Since November 28, South Africa has further tightened its epidemic prevention and control measures, raising the "lockdown" level from the current level one to level three, which is expected to continue until January 15 next year. During this period, a curfew was imposed from 21:00 to 6:00 the next day, and all business premises were closed before 20:00 every day, except for business places necessary for the normal operation of society. Statistics show that as of the evening of 2 December, only 36.8% of adults in South Africa had completed a full vaccination schedule. The South African Ministry of Health is calling on all people over the age of 12 in the country to be vaccinated quickly.

Many European countries implemented travel bans at the first time, suspending flights to and from multiple countries in Africa. In the UK, mask orders are reinstated after months of suspension; in the Netherlands, restaurants and bars must close by 17:00 during the minimum 3-week lockdown measures that begin on 28 November; Germany has tightened social restrictions for unvaccinated people; in Spain, mass vaccination sites have reopened; and in Greece, Greek citizens over the age of 60 will face a monthly fine of 100 euros per month if they refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19 from January 16 next year.

The U.S. government announced its response on December 2, including international travelers entering the U.S. who must show a negative COVID-19 test certificate within 24 hours of departure, requiring health insurance companies to reimburse customers for home testing costs, adding vaccination stations across the country to further boost vaccination speed, and extending the mandatory wearing of masks in passenger planes, trains, buses and transportation hubs until mid-March next year.

On the one hand, many Latin American countries have raised the entry threshold and on the other hand, they have increased their efforts to promote vaccination. Brazil's National Health Supervision Agency said that the production of vaccination certificates is an important condition for entering Brazil, and large cities such as Rio de Janeiro have required vaccination certificates to enter indoor public places and strictly check the implementation; the Peruvian government has called on people to be vaccinated and strengthen preventive measures, starting from December 10, adults over the age of 18 must show a vaccination card with two doses of complete vaccination when entering the enclosed space; the Colombian government has begun to administer booster injections for people over 18 years old since November 24 The Ministry of Health and Sports of Bolivia recently issued a notice to formally include foreign citizens in the national vaccination plan, and foreign citizens who have reached the age of 18 and have stayed in Bolivia for 30 days can go to the nearest authorized vaccination site with a valid passport and entry certificate.

The South Korean government recently announced that it will implement a four-week special epidemic prevention measure, calling on the public to remain vigilant, abide by epidemic prevention rules, and increase the speed of COVID-19 vaccination among young people.

Work to ensure that vaccines are fairly accessible

WHO pointed out that the degree of contagious and severe infection of the Omiljung strain is still unclear, and the impact on the effectiveness of existing testing methods, vaccines and treatments needs to be further studied. However, no significant difference has been found from the symptoms of infections in other variants, and as effective as most nucleic acid detection reagents, vaccines remain critical to reducing severe illness and mortality from existing variant transmission, particularly the Delta variant. The latest weekly report released by WHO on December 7 said that it is stepping up efforts to assist African countries to strengthen the sequencing of virus genes, and will raise US$12 million for urgently needed epidemic prevention and control measures for African countries in the next three months.

Kokhov, technical director of WHO's Health Emergencies Programme, stressed that the current vaccine protection rate is still strong and could significantly reduce severe cases and deaths, and called for wider vaccination, including universal access to booster vaccination.

Seth Berkeley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, noted that while humans still need to know more about the Ami kerong variant, "we know that as long as most of the world's population is not vaccinated, the (new coronavirus) mutation will continue to appear and the pandemic will continue to prolong.". Berkeley called for a global effort to ensure that vaccines are fairly accessible.

Gordon Brown, WHO's Global Health Financing Ambassador and former British Prime Minister, recently published an article pointing out that when rich countries hoard vaccines, it is not surprising that new variants of the new coronavirus appear. He noted that Western countries pledged in September to provide vaccines to 40 percent of the adult population in the 92 poorest countries through the COVID-19 Vaccine Implementation Plan by the end of this year. As of Nov. 25, the U.S. had delivered only 25 percent of its pledged vaccines, and the European Union had delivered only 19 percent of its pledge.

WHO data shows that people in low-income countries receive only 0.6% of the total global doses of vaccination. The african region has a full vaccination rate of only 7%, which is still much lower than the rest of the world. South African President Ramaphosa said that vaccine inequality not only costs countries that do not receive vaccines, but also affects global anti-epidemic efforts. The emergence of the Olmikron strain is a wake-up call to the world that vaccine inequality cannot be allowed to continue.

(Brussels, Rio de Janeiro, December 8)