Recently, the epidemic situation in Jiangsu, Henan, Hunan, Beijing, Shandong and other places has been sporadic, and sporadic confirmed cases have continued to appear. Friends who pay attention to the development of the epidemic have heard a word frequently during this time - Delta strain.
On July 27, Ding Jie, deputy director of the Nanjing Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, informed that the strain of the Nanjing epidemic was the new coronavirus variant delta; on August 1, Zhao Dongyang, deputy director of the Henan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that after virus sequencing and comparative analysis, the epidemic in Henan was mainly caused by the delta strain of the new crown virus.
How contagious is Delta strain? Is the COVID-19 vaccine we have now effective against it? How can we strengthen personal protection every day?
First discovered in India in October 2020, Delta strain is the fastest-spreading and most powerful strain of COVID-19 ever discovered worldwide.
According to relevant research from Public Health England, the Delta strain has 100% more transmission capacity than the original strain; compared with the alpha strain that became popular around the world in the second half of last year, its transmission capacity is 60% higher!
Specifically, the terrible thing about delta strains is that:
1
Infection occurs without contact for 14 seconds
The Delta strain has a viral load of 1260 times that of last year's epidemic strains and is highly contagious, infecting in 14 seconds, even without contact.
The Guangzhou police, who are responsible for assisting in the epidemiological investigation, once released a surveillance video: in the same restaurant, Huang Mou (the third generation of infected persons) and Lu Mou (the fourth generation of infected people) successively went into the bathroom, and without any physical contact, the virus was transmitted in 14 seconds.
2
The efficiency of dissemination is greatly improved compared to the original
The basic number of infections (R0) of the original strain of COVID-19 is around 2.5, while the basic number of infections of the Delta strain is about 5-8. That is to say, in the past, one person could infect two or three people, and now one person can infect eight people, and the scope of transmission is wider.
3
The incubation period is shortened and the onset of the disease is faster
Exposure to the original strain takes an average of 6 days for the virus to be detected, while after 4 days of exposure to the Delta strain, the virus is detected in the infected person. The incubation period of the virus is about two days shorter than the original, and the onset of the disease is faster.
4
Increased toxicity
Academician Zhang Boli said that from the domestic data, the time for the sick population to turn yin is prolonging, and more people have turned from mild to severe disease.
5
Immune escape ability
Data released by Public Health England shows that after a complete 2-dose Pfizer vaccine, the effectiveness against alpha strains reached 93.4%, while the protection against Delta strains was only 87.9%. This means that delta strains have a certain "immune escape" ability – that is, the ability to produce antibodies after vaccination and prevent infection.
Speaking of this, many friends began to worry: Is the vaccine we are injecting now still effective?
In response to this problem, Zhang Wenhong, director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases And director of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Huashan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University, said: Although the Delta strain is a virus that has recently "run faster" in the world, it is also a coronavirus even if it runs fast, and the original prevention and control measures and vaccinations are still effective.
Academician Zhong Nanshan introduced that after comparing the relevant situations of vaccinated contacts and unvaccinated close contacts, it was found that vaccines have a protective effect on viral infections, 67% on the occurrence of symptoms, 77% on severe pneumonia, and 100% on death.
Academician Zhang Boli mentioned that the vaccine is still effective for the mutated Delta virus, and the vaccine has a clear effect on preventing severe disease and reducing death, so we encourage everyone to take the vaccine as much as possible.
Tips
As for whether the vaccinated population needs to be injected, the jury is still out, and everything should be based on official notification.
Practice has proved that wearing masks and washing hands frequently is an effective epidemic prevention measure, and everyone must continue to adhere to it. On top of this, the following 5 points should also be extra careful.
Masks are replaced in a timely manner
The recommended frequency of mask replacement is to change once every four hours, and it is also possible to change it once a day. However, recently the weather is relatively hot, people sweat a lot, if the mask is wet, it must be replaced immediately, otherwise the protective ability will be greatly weakened.
Remember to ventilate regularly
Although the weather is hot, you must not neglect ventilation while turning on the air conditioner. It is recommended to open the window every 4 hours or so to allow air to circulate, at least 20 minutes each time, to reduce the amount of germs and other pollutants in the room.
Avoid unnecessary travel
Public transportation, travel, etc. are an important way for the epidemic to spread. Therefore, it is recommended that you try not to leave the province and city where you are located in the near future, do not travel to medium- and high-risk areas, popular tourist locations or travel, reduce the flow of people, and reduce the risk of infection.
Reduce unnecessary aggregations
Try to avoid gathering in groups and do not participate in large-scale gatherings. Be sure to wear a mask and practice safe social distancing for activities that must be attended.
Improves autoimmunity
Immunity is the best "doctor". Usually, everyone should pay attention to eating well, sleeping enough, and exercising more to enhance their own immunity and reduce the risk of infection of diseases.
In addition, Academician Zhang Boli also recommended a tea substitute that helps regulate immunity, and everyone can also try it.
【Recipe and method】2 grams each of herbs, lotus leaves, peran and honeysuckle, and brew tea substitutes with boiling water. This is a daily amount for one person, with the effect of clearing heat, dispelling heat and appetizing, and is suitable for drinking in recent hot and humid weather.
On August 5, at the 232nd press conference on the prevention and control of the new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic in Beijing, Wang Daguang, a member of the office of the community prevention and control group of the municipal epidemic prevention and control leading group and director of the Municipal Party Building Research Institute, introduced that recently, due to the impact of the Delta mutation virus, clusters of epidemics have occurred in many parts of the country, and the epidemic risk and prevention and control pressure facing the capital Beijing have continued to increase. In order to further tighten the community (village) prevention and control fence and build a solid barrier for epidemic prevention and control in the capital, according to the relevant requirements of the central and municipal party committees, the city has timely optimized and upgraded the relevant policies for the health management of the community (village) of the domestic personnel who come to (return) to Beijing.
I. Any person who comes to (returns) to Beijing from the whole territory of the place (city) where the case occurs, or who learns through various channels that they may be a close contact, a sub-close contact and other risk groups, must take the initiative to report to the community (village), unit, and hotel where they live, and consciously accept health management.
2. For those who have come (returned) to Beijing from high-risk areas, 14 days of centralized observation and 7 days of health monitoring will be implemented. During the period of centralized observation, the management regulations of the centralized observation point should be strictly observed, and nucleic acid testing and health monitoring should be done to avoid cross-infection.
3. For those who have come (returned) to Beijing from medium-risk areas, 14 days of home observation and 7 days of health monitoring are to be implemented; those who do not have the conditions for home observation are to be subject to centralized observation. During the period of home observation, we should strictly abide by the relevant requirements of home observation, do a good job of family protection, and do not leave home. Those who go out without authorization in violation of regulations will be transferred to centralized observation points for centralized observation, causing the spread of the epidemic or causing a risk of transmission, and legal responsibility should be investigated in accordance with law.
4. For personnel coming to (returning) to Beijing from all over the territory of the place (city) where the case occurred, nucleic acid testing will be carried out as required, and 14 days of health monitoring will be carried out. When necessary, the disease control department will also determine the time and scope of control according to the actual risk situation in relevant areas, and dynamically adjust prevention and control measures. We will update our community controls in accordance with the latest requirements.
5. Those identified as minor close contacts shall, in addition to their own isolation and observation in accordance with regulations, the personnel living and working together shall be subject to closed-loop management in accordance with regulations, and shall not participate in any gathering activities. Among them, for those living in communities (villages), 7 days of health monitoring are generally implemented.
Sixth, those who come to (return) to Beijing for community health monitoring should pay close attention to the health status of themselves and those living together, such as fever, dry cough, fatigue and other suspicious symptoms, they should promptly report to their units and communities (villages), and wear masks to the nearest fever clinic for medical treatment.
7. The above-mentioned periods for home observation, centralized observation, and health monitoring are calculated from the date of leaving the risk area or leaving the person infected with the new crown virus, close contacts, and other personnel.
VIII. Further tighten epidemic prevention measures such as scanning code registration, making appointments to restrict flow, and wearing masks in public places where communities (villages) gather. For closed activity venues such as chess and card rooms, mahjong rooms, and recreation rooms that are not necessary for daily life in the community (village), they should be "closed to the end" and temporarily closed.
Source: Doctor teaches you to eat, Beijing Evening News