Li Lanjuan: The epidemic in Tianjin is still in a period of spread, and we call on primary and secondary school students to be vaccinated as soon as possible

Latest Announcement:

As of 18:00 on January 10, 2021, Tianjin reported 31 locally confirmed cases and 10 asymptomatic infected people in this round of the epidemic. Other newly added patients with positive initial screening infection are to be notified after further verification by the clinical expert group. The positive infected people found were all the indicator cases of the current round of epidemic and their related close contacts, as well as personnel in the sealing, control and prevention areas of Jinnan District.

Due to the rapid transmission speed and strong concealment of the Omiljung mutant strain, Tianjin has carried out nucleic acid screening for all employees throughout the city to identify the potential risk of virus transmission. At present, Tianjin has mobilized the city's resources, and on the basis of the continuous assistance of other provinces and cities, the screening work is progressing smoothly. As of 15:00 on January 10, the city's sampling 9624938 people, 3427807 people who completed the test, except for the reported positive infected people, the others were negative. Detection is ongoing.

On January 8, Tianjin reported 2 local confirmed cases of new crown pneumonia and 18 cases of new crown virus infection, all of which belong to the Aomi Kerong mutation strain, which has been transmitted for at least three generations from the perspective of the transmission chain, and it is also the largest number of local infection cases caused by Aomi Kerong in China so far. Up to now, there have been 41 cases of positive infection in Tianjin, the youngest is 5 years old, half of them are primary school students, and many elderly people.

On January 8, the screening in Anyang, Henan Province, found two cases infected with Aomi Kerong, the source of which was a college student who returned home from Tianjin on December 28 last year.

For the first time in China, the transmission of the Aumecreon variant strain, what are the characteristics of the Aomi kerong strain? How is it different from the previous Delta strain? The risk of spillover from the epidemic in Tianjin is relatively large, how should all localities respond?

Orange Persimmon Interactive reporter interviewed Li Lanjuan, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and director of the State Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, on a series of hot issues that the public cares about.

For the first time in China, there is local transmission of the Aomi Kerong mutation, what is the focus of attention and preliminary judgment of the current round of epidemic in Tianjin?

Li Lanjuan: At present, the local transmission of the Aomi Kerong strain has been detected for the first time in the Tianjin area of China, and before that, many cities in China have reported cases of infection of the Aomi Kerong strain imported from abroad, but none of them have triggered local cases.

This round of the epidemic in Tianjin has shown the characteristics of fast transmission speed, strong concealment and strong penetration. At present, no positive cases have been reported and there is a history of contact with inbound cases or places, and relevant traceability and epidemiological investigations are underway. From the perspective of the relationship between cases, the virus has been transmitted for at least three generations, and the current epidemic in Tianjin is still in the spread period, and more cases may be reported in the future.

The infected people of the epidemic in Tianjin mainly involve the custodial institutions, school students and parents where the cases are located, which are crowded places and have a great risk of transmission.

According to the circulation report, a Tianjin-related case was also found in the Anyang area of Henan Province, which was a college student who returned to Anyang from Tianjin on December 28, 2021, indicating that the epidemic has been circulating at the social level in Tianjin for some time. This also shows that the prevention and control of the epidemic in Tianjin is very difficult.

At present, the global epidemic of Aumi Kerong is in a period of rapid spread, and the risk of China facing the import of Aumi Kerong continues to increase. In the face of this epidemic, everyone should pay attention to it, but there is no need to panic. In the past two years, China has rich experience in normalizing the prevention and control of the epidemic, and has achieved world-renowned anti-epidemic achievements, and I believe that we will be able to control the epidemic very quickly.

Tianjin primary and secondary school students and other young groups have a high proportion of infection, what do young people need to pay attention to in epidemic prevention and control?

Li Lanjuan: From the current epidemic investigation in Tianjin, it is found that the infection of the Aomi Kerong mutant strain has a significant trend of younger age. At present, 23 of the 40 confirmed cases and positive infections of the new coronavirus announced by Tianjin are primary and secondary school students.

The epidemic in Tianjin is also manifested in the high proportion of young infected groups such as primary and secondary school students, which deserves our high vigilance and response.

The relatively low vaccination rates of children and adolescents and the lack of awareness of active medical treatment may be one of the reasons for their high proportions. Judging from the current epidemic monitoring, the characteristics of strong invisibility and strong contagion of the Omicron strain are more prominent. Therefore, places where children and adolescents such as primary and secondary schools may gather should be paid close attention to in the prevention and control of the epidemic.

At present, during the winter vacation of students and the spring festival of college students returning to their hometowns, social contact is more extensive and the risk of infection is higher. Primary and secondary school students who hope to take the holidays will participate in less gathering activities, wash their hands frequently, wear masks in a standardized manner, and get the new crown vaccine as soon as possible if they are not vaccinated.

The risk of spillover from the epidemic in Tianjin is relatively large, how should all localities respond?

Li Lanjuan: To deal with the Aomi Kerong strain, we must respond scientifically according to the characteristics of the mutant strain. Studies have shown that the transmissibility of Aomi Kerong is stronger than any previous mutant strain, in view of the strong spread of Aomi Kerong, our response measures are faster than previous measures, to "run ahead of the virus", quickly find infected people and their close and sub-close contacts, and quickly isolate and control relevant personnel. Only by quickly identifying and isolating the source of infection can the epidemic be truly and effectively controlled.

In addition, the recent report released by the WHO shows that although the transmission of Ami Kerong is strong, the symptoms caused by it are mild or asymptomatic, and this feature of Aomi Kerong undoubtedly brings great challenges to the prevention and control work.

This puts forward higher requirements for our normalized prevention and control, which requires strengthening accurate detection, rapidly discovering infected people and their close and sub-close contacts, quickly isolating and controlling relevant personnel, and cutting off the transmission chain in a timely manner.

What are the main characteristics of the Omikeron mutant strain? How is it different from the previous Delta?

Li Lanjuan: Delta strains have the characteristics of short incubation period, fast transmission speed, high viral load, and long nucleic acid negative time. At present, studies have shown that the Okmirjung strain spreads rapidly, but the symptoms are not serious, and most of the infected people are mild, but more research is needed to confirm it.

From the perspective of virus structure, the spike protein mutation site of the Omikejong strain is more than twice as large as that of the Delta strain. This can lead to increased contagiousness of the virus and the ability to evade vaccine immunity.

Therefore, we call on the general public not to panic when we hear that the virus has mutated, and we must believe in science. As long as everyone is vigilant and scientifically prevents and controls, the normalized prevention and control measures taken by our country are still effective.

Are existing vaccines in our country useful for Opmi kerong? Can a booster injection serve as a precaution against Amikeron?

Li Lanjuan: At present, due to the continuous mutation of the virus, the ability of various types of vaccines in the world to prevent the infection of the Aomi Kerong strain has decreased to varying degrees, including several existing vaccines in China. However, after vaccination, the hospitalization, severe illness and mortality caused by the mutant virus infection have been significantly reduced, especially for those infected with the booster vaccine. Therefore, in response to the mutated virus, we should be vaccinated in time to "strengthen the needle" and do a good job of personal protection.

The Spring Festival is approaching, what are the special tips for the daily protection of Aumetic?

Li Lanjuan: We must play the role of big data tracking and fever diagnosis as a sentinel point, if there is an imported epidemic, strive to find it in the first time, quickly isolate the infected, close and sub-close, and cut off the chain of virus transmission at an early stage; hospitals and disease control departments should strengthen the monitoring of the virus and timely detect the mutated virus.

For ordinary citizens, the Spring Festival is approaching, and it is recommended that the general public should actively cooperate with relevant epidemic prevention measures, and do a good job of personal protection, insist on wearing masks, maintain social distancing, wash their hands frequently, and ventilate frequently. It is recommended that everyone reduce social activities such as gatherings and gatherings during the Spring Festival, and reduce the number of crowded places. People who have no contraindications and have not been vaccinated against the new crown vaccine as soon as possible, and who have completed the full process of new crown vaccination and meet the conditions, should pay close attention to the "strengthening injection", build a new crown immunity barrier, and improve their own immunity.

Orange Persimmon Interactive City Express reporter Yu Xixi

Correspondent Zou Yun Xie Chen