After Shaanxi and Henan, Tianjin has become another focus area of the epidemic, and it is also the first area in China to encounter the Aomi Kerong mutation on a large scale.
As of 14:00 on January 12, a total of 137 cases of positive infection have been reported in this round of epidemic in Tianjin, including 76 confirmed cases of local new crown pneumonia, 17 cases of asymptomatic infection of new crown virus in china, and 44 other cases of positive initial screening infection for further verification.
Where is the source of the current round of epidemics in Tianjin? What are the characteristics of the Omicron transmission? What are the local epidemic prevention measures? ...... Focusing on issues of public concern, "Xinhua Viewpoint" reporters have been investigating for several days.
Focus 1: How is the virus traceability progressing?
In December last year, Tianjin became the first city in China to detect the Omiljung variant of the new coronavirus from the arrivals. After nearly a month, Omi Kerong reappeared in Tianjin, is there a connection between the two? Can we find out the "patient zero" of the current round of the epidemic in Tianjin?
Zhang Ying, deputy director of the Tianjin Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that the two cases initially confirmed on January 8 were not related to imported cases, there was no departure from Tianjin in the past 14 days, and there was no history of travel in medium- and high-risk areas. The whole genome sequencing of the virus further confirms that the two indigenous cases belong to the same chain of transmission, but they are different from those imported from abroad.
At present, Tianjin is intensively carrying out the work of tracing the origin of the virus. Zhang Ying said that on the one hand, the possibility of the virus being directly imported into Tianjin from abroad cannot be completely ruled out, in addition to people, there is also the spread of objects and the environment; on the other hand, it is also possible that inbound cases have been introduced into Tianjin through other regions and are digging further around clues.
On January 9, at the nucleic acid testing point of Zhongying Primary School in Gulou Street, Nankai District, Tianjin, staff scanned the code through mobile phones to enter information for residents to be tested. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Sun Fanyue
Zhang Ying said the Omiljung virus has been transmitted in Tianjin for at least three generations. What is this concept? "If according to the previous 'old' strains, an intergenerational relationship should be 5 to 7 days, and three generations is 15 to 21 days, which means that the virus has been hidden and spread in Tianjin for some time." She said that in the course of the epidemiological investigation, the source was very unclear, and there was no way to quickly identify the source of the virus infection.
"This has brought unprecedented difficulties and challenges to this round of epidemics, both traceability and epidemiological investigation." Zhang Ying said. Experts say that even when the source is found, "Patient Zero" has no longer been detoxified, that is, it cannot be detected by nucleic acid testing.
Although the source is unknown, it is reassuring that the chain of transmission between the cases has been found to be relatively clear. Zhang Boli, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that the first two confirmed cases were staff members of the childcare institution and the other was a primary school student; and of the 18 new cases on the first day, 10 were students in the custody class or their families, and 8 people were classmates of primary school students, which is two more obvious transmission chains.
Focus 2: What are the characteristics of the Omiljung spread?
On January 8, Tianjin found local Omilon infected people, and from 7 o'clock the next day, Tianjin, a megacity with a population of about 14 million, began to conduct nucleic acid testing for all employees. The reason why the action is so fast is to "race" with the spread of Omicron.
"The Omikejunn variant spreads very quickly, and it is possible that it will spread in 2 to 3 days, 3 to 4 days." Gu Qing, deputy secretary-general of the Tianjin Municipal Government and director of the Municipal Health Commission, said that the purpose of nucleic acid testing for all employees is to identify the potential risks of virus transmission.
At a nucleic acid testing site in Tianjin's Binhai High-tech Zone on January 9, staff take nucleic acid samples for the masses. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhao Zishuo
Facts have proved the necessity of nucleic acid testing for all employees. In the first round of large-scale screening, in addition to Jinnan District, where the original positive infected people were concentrated, there were 3 positive infected people found in 3 districts, including 3 cases in Xiqing District, 3 cases in Hexi District, and 1 case in Binhai New Area.
Zhang Boli said that the Omiljung mutation has 32 spike protein mutation sites, and many of its mutations are the focus of research in the fields of new coronavirus transmission, infectivity and immune escape ability. Currently, the Omikeron variant is rated very high in the overall risk assessment worldwide and has been widely disseminated around the world.
Sun Yamin, a professor at the Institute of Public Health and Health of Nankai University, said that from foreign information, the Aomi Kerong variant has the characteristics of strong infectivity, short incubation period, and mild symptoms. "It took only about 3 weeks for Opmecreon to replace Delta as the world's leading endemic strain, reflecting the fact that Opmi-Keron is very contagious."
Focus 3: What are the symptoms of infected people?
"The Omikejong variant is indeed very contagious, but the symptoms are not obvious, the occlusion is also strong, and it is more likely to spread or concentrate outbreaks at multiple points." Chamberlain said. A number of experts, scholars and clinicians stressed to reporters that although the initial symptoms of infection with Omice Krong are usually mild or even asymptomatic, they must not be taken lightly, and their understanding is still deepening at this stage.
The reporter combed and found that as of now, among the positive infected people reported in Tianjin, there are 17 asymptomatic infected people. Chamberlain believes that because the symptoms are generally mild or asymptomatic, the patient's initiative to seek medical treatment is insufficient, and it is difficult to detect it at the first time.
The protective efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine has attracted much attention recently. Both Zhang Boli and Gu Qing believe that vaccines are still effective in preventing severe diseases. Current studies have also shown that in vaccinated populations, the risk of severe illness or death in Omilon appears to be lower. Gu Qing stressed that on the one hand, it is still necessary to strengthen vaccination and improve vaccine coverage, on the other hand, it is also necessary to do a good job in self-protection.
Among the positive infected people in Tianjin this time, children account for a large proportion. Many experts believe that it is not yet possible to prove the statement that "children are the susceptible population of Omi kerong", and the transmission chain that has been found in the epidemic is concentrated in cram schools, schools, etc., and there is contingency. Zhang Boli said that Tianjin attaches great importance to the treatment of confirmed children, and has invested in experts to adopt a one-person-one-policy treatment method to strive for early recovery of children.
Focus 4: How to prevent the spillover of the epidemic?
Previously, two local cases of local cases in Anyang City, Henan Province, were found to be infected with the virus as the Aomi Kerong variant, and the source of infection in the current round of the epidemic in the city was a college student who returned to Tangyin County of Anyang City from Jinnan District, Tianjin on December 28, 2021. On the 12th, the Ganjingzi District of Dalian City also found that 2 people had positive nucleic acid test results when conducting routine nucleic acid testing on people returning to Dalian from Tianjin. This is a wake-up call to prevent spillovers.
At the first time of the emergence of this round of epidemic, Tianjin strengthened the management of leaving Tianjin with a responsible attitude and advocated that the masses should not leave Tianjin unless necessary. However, since the source of the epidemic is still unclear, it is indeed difficult to prevent.
According to Liu Daogang, deputy director of the Tianjin Municipal Transportation Commission, Tianjin has deployed a total of 279 inspection points on highways and ordinary highways to strictly check the negative nucleic acid test certificate of 48 hours of personnel leaving Tianjin, the certificate of leaving Tianjin issued by the unit or town, and the green code of the health code. Railway passenger stations have also begun to be strictly inspected. The cross-city business of cruise cars, online ride-hailing cars and hitchhiking has been stopped.
With the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics imminent, the trains entering Beijing at some stations in the Tianjin area have adopted control measures such as suspension of operation and suspension of sales, and all interprovincial lines and interprovincial chartered buses into Beijing have been suspended, and all channels have been strictly guarded. "I hope that Tianjin's strict control can ensure that the virus is 'eliminated' in Tianjin and ensure the smooth convening of the Beijing Winter Olympics." Chamberlain said.
Gu Qing introduced that Tianjin has paid great attention to whether the virus has spilled into other places, and the list of personnel leaving Tianjin and close contacts and sub-close contacts has been pushed to relevant provinces for the first time.
In the face of the cunning Aumi Kerong, Zhang Boli stressed that it is necessary to strictly prevent foreign imports, and to prevent people and objects, especially port cities and cold chain freight links are the top priority, which is the key to curbing the spread within The Arcimi Kerong. He also reminded that it is necessary to pay attention to the student group, and at present, when students are on winter vacation and college students return home, social contact is more extensive, and the risk of infection is higher.
Focus 5: Is the supply guarantee of citizens in place?
CR Vanguard Xianshuigu Store is one of the closest shopping malls to the sealed area of Xianshuigu Town, Jinnan District. The person in charge of the store revealed that the price of vegetables, fresh and other commodities in the supermarket has not changed much compared with usual, and the daily necessities such as rice and flour grain and oil on the shelves are in sufficient supply and complete.
In order to ensure the "vegetable basket" of the people in the sealing and control area, Jinnan District has launched a mechanism for ensuring the supply of daily necessities, and has linked up with 38 large supermarkets, vegetable markets and wholesale markets near the sealing and control areas and control areas. "The reserve of daily necessities in the whole region can reach 3,000 tons." Liu Yong, deputy director of the Jinnan District Bureau of Commerce, said.
On January 10, near Lin Jin Garden in Xinzhuang Town, Jinnan District, Tianjin, Wumart supermarket staff delivered daily necessities to residents. Xinhua News Agency
Not only in the sealed area, Li Hong, deputy director of the Tianjin Municipal Bureau of Commerce, said that in response to the sudden epidemic, Tianjin immediately launched a linkage emergency response mechanism for the supply of the masses, and launched large wholesale markets, supermarkets, vegetable markets and other market entities to organize the supply of goods in advance and strengthen the preparation of goods. At present, the supply of agricultural wholesale markets in Tianjin is sufficient, the supply and demand of meat, eggs and vegetables have remained basically balanced, the inventory of vegetables has increased from the level of 2 days to 3 to 4 days, and the stock of rice flour oil has increased from 20 days to 30 days.
On the morning of the 9th, due to the short-term over-traffic centralized procurement of Tianjin citizens and the lack of space for stocking in the vegetable market, some commodities such as vegetables, eggs, and pork were short-term out of stock, but major supermarkets and vegetable markets were replenished in time, and the market supply in the afternoon of the same day has basically returned to normal.
Residents buy goods at Wumart Supermarket (Huayuan Store) in Tianjin on January 10. Xinhua News Agency
The Tianjin Municipal Bureau of Commerce has also strengthened market monitoring, grasped the sales volume, price and inventory of more than 240 enterprises of daily necessities at any time, coordinated with the market supervision department, publicized and reminded market operators, and resolutely cracked down on price gouging and malicious price increases.
In addition, Tianjin's electric power business hall "immediately to do, do immediately", promote the "no meeting" service that relies on online processing; many hospitals in Tianjin such as Taixin have opened online consultations, prescription drugs can be mailed to home; Tianjin Bus Group has mobilized vehicles to assist in the transfer of medical staff and isolated citizens... Various departments have taken action, and a series of heart-warming measures have "covered" the needs of people's livelihood and escorted the fight against the epidemic for the whole people. (Reporters Mao Zhenhua, Bai Jiali, Zhang Jianxin, participating reporters Liu Weizhen and Song Rui)