More than 56,000 cases of infection in this round of epidemic Wu Zunyou: new crown pneumonia is not a "big flu"

From March 1 to March 24, more than 56,000 cases of indigenous infections have been reported in this round of the epidemic, affecting 28 provinces. What are the new changes in the current national epidemic situation? On the afternoon of March 25, the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council will hold a press conference to introduce the scientific and accurate and unremitting efforts to grasp the epidemic prevention and control work, and answer questions from the media.

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【Epidemic Situation】

The epidemic in Shanghai, Hebei, Fujian and Liaoning has grown rapidly

The risk of community transmission persists

According to reports, from March 1 to 24, the cumulative number of local infected people reported nationwide has exceeded 56,000, affecting 28 provinces.

The epidemic situation in Jilin Province is still at a high level, from March 1 to 24, the cumulative number of infected people has exceeded 29,000, and the number of new infections has exceeded 1,000 per day for many consecutive days, and the epidemic situation in Jilin City and Changchun City is in a stage of continuous development.

The epidemic in Shanghai, Hebei, Fujian and Liaoning provinces has grown rapidly in recent days, and the risk of community transmission in the places where the epidemic occurred continues to exist.

The epidemic situation in Qingdao, Weihai, Zibo, Shandong Province, Shenzhen, Dongguan and other places in Guangdong Province has been initially controlled.

The epidemic situation in Beijing, Chongqing and Zhejiang provinces has stabilized.

Overall, at present, the national epidemic situation is in the stage of tackling tough problems, and the situation of epidemic prevention and control is still severe and complex. The Comprehensive Group of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council continues to guide the provinces concerned with the epidemic to strictly and strictly implement various epidemic prevention and control measures, block the transmission as soon as possible, and prevent further spread.

【Vaccination for the elderly】

212 million people over the age of 60 have completed the full covid-19 vaccination process

As of March 24, the country has reported a total of 3,243,599,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, the total number of vaccinations has reached 1,275,541,000, and 1,240,777,000 people have been vaccinated, covering 90.47% of the total population of the country, and the number of people vaccinated throughout the country accounting for 88.01% of the total population. 671.27 million people were immunized intensively, of which 12.191 million were sequentially immunized. The number of COVID-19 vaccinations for the elderly over the age of 60 reached 222.719 million, 212.153 million people were vaccinated throughout the whole process, and 138.237 million people were immunized intensively. Up to now, the vaccination rate of the elderly over 60 years old in Jiangxi, Anhui and Shandong provinces has exceeded 90%. Chongqing, Henan, Hubei, Guizhou, Hebei, Sichuan, Yunnan 7 provinces and cities more than 85%.

The incidence of adverse reactions in the elderly over the age of 60 is lower than that of other age groups

At the meeting, Wang Huaqing, chief expert of the immunization program of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, introduced that there are currently more than 264 million people aged 60 and over in the country, of which more than 212 million have been vaccinated against the new crown virus. From the analysis of the results of the current monitoring, the incidence of adverse reactions in the elderly over 60 years old is lower than that of other age groups.

Vaccination will have some general reactions, mainly manifested as fever, headache, body aches, local pain and redness, most of which do not require special treatment, and will heal on their own. However, in the process of monitoring, it was also seen that some people had extremely rare adverse reactions after vaccination, mainly manifested as anaphylactic shock. Now for 30 minutes after vaccination, in fact, one of the main purposes is to find the vaccine in time on the spot caused by severe allergic reactions, such as anaphylactic shock. Because anaphylactic shock is an acute disease, the vast majority of which occur within 30 minutes, if this happens, there are emergency medicines on the scene of each vaccination unit, as well as first aid measures and first aid doctors, through their treatment of this situation, the risk will be minimized.

Read more "212 million elderly people over the age of 60 in mainland China complete the full vaccination of the new crown virus"

Older people are among the top priority groups for COVID-19 vaccination

At the meeting, Wang Huaqing, chief expert of the immunization program of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, introduced that the elderly are one of the highest priority groups for vaccination against the new crown virus. At present, the new crown virus vaccine has requirements for the lower age limit, and there is no provision for the upper limit of age, as long as it is a person over 3 years old, these vaccines can be vaccinated.

When it comes to contraindications in the elderly, if this person has had an allergic reaction during the COVID-19 vaccine, it cannot be vaccinated. There are also other vaccines that have been given in the past, and if there is a severe allergic reaction, it cannot be vaccinated. These two points are mainly measures taken from the perspective of preventing serious adverse reactions.

In addition, Wang Huaqing introduced that coupling disease has nothing to do with vaccination, nor is it an adverse reaction after vaccination. Older people have some health problems compared with adults and young people, and the probability of coupling disorder may be greater. When vaccinating, these matters can avoid the appearance of some coupling diseases. For example, if an elderly person is having a fever, postpone his vaccination. If the elderly are in the acute onset of chronic diseases, it is also recommended to suspend vaccination. There are also some neurological disorders that are not controlled, including some related diseases such as green bari, transverse myelitis and demyelinating disease, which are suspended if they are in a state of no control. These suspensions of vaccination avoid the occurrence of some couplings as much as possible.

For older adults who cannot be vaccinated under special circumstances

Expert advice is coming

Wang Huaqing, chief expert of the immunization program of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that for the elderly who cannot be vaccinated under some special circumstances, or cannot be vaccinated temporarily, protective measures should also be taken to protect them. There are mainly the following aspects:

First, the elderly should try not to go to crowded places during the epidemic or when there is an epidemic, reduce contact with strangers or outsiders, and try not to contact other people in dense spaces.

Second, if you go to an indoor public place, or take public transportation, or contact with strangers, you must wear a mask and cut off the transmission route, which is actually a very effective measure verified in the past two years.

The third is to maintain hand hygiene, including frequent hand washing, or use disinfectants to do a good job of hand hygiene, if the hand is contaminated with the virus, and then touch the mouth, nose or eyes, it is easy to be infected, so it is very critical to do a good job of hand hygiene.

Fourth, now that the weather has warmed, if possible, it is recommended to open windows for ventilation every day to keep the air flow fresh, which is also an effective measure to prevent the new crown at present.

Finally, it is emphasized that it is also very important to protect the elderly, the people around the elderly, and to do a good job of personal protection, especially to promote vaccination, and other people who come into contact with the elderly at home should be vaccinated, and there is a protection for the elderly. In addition, now every day to see the health code, itinerary code, if the health code is abnormal, it is recommended that these people do not contact the elderly, once infected, transmitted to the elderly, the risk is very large.

【Explanation】

What is the risk of infection of non-close and sub-close contact risks such as spatio-temporal concomitant?

Wu Zunyou, chief expert of epidemiology at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that "space-time accompaniment" is sometimes called "space-time intersection", which generally refers to people who have stayed together for a period of time in the same time and space grid as confirmed COVID-19 patients within 14 days. For example, if an infected person has been to a certain place in 14 days, and someone's trajectory in these 14 days has intersected with him, it may be identified as a space-time companion. Screening "space-time companions" can maximize the detection of potentially infected people, and more people who have "time-space coincidence" and may be infected are included in the key investigation, so as to achieve early detection and advance prevention and control.

The identified space-time companion is usually further investigated to determine the exact method, specific time and actual distance of the space-time accompaniment, and to determine the risk of infection. If the investigation has been made clear, neither a close contact person nor a sub-close contact person, there is no risk of infection with the new crown.

In the actual epidemic prevention and control, a large number of time and space accompaniments are often found in a short period of time, and it is impossible to check each time and space companion in time. Space-time companions who have not completed risk investigation shall, in accordance with the requirements of prevention and control, isolate at home, or isolate at designated places until the investigation is completed, or lift the space-time companion state.

Can antigen results replace nucleic acid negative proofs?

Wang Guiqiang, director of the Department of Infectious Diseases of Peking University First Hospital, introduced that antigen detection is an important supplement to viral nucleic acid detection, especially in the context of large-scale outbreaks of rapidly spreading diseases such as Omicron, nucleic acid detection is a very important supplement if the ability is insufficient. However, antigen testing is still limited to controlled populations, isolated populations, and close contact groups, and we do not recommend that ordinary people conduct antigen testing.

Antigen testing is also not a diagnosis of exclusion or as a substitute for 48-hour nucleic acid testing. Because there are certain false positives and false negatives in the antigen test, in the case of positive antigen tests, the nucleic acid review is eventually carried out. However, in the case of a positive test, we control it in a timely manner to avoid the risk of further spread.

Is covid-19 on the way to influenza?

Wu Zunyou, chief expert of epidemiology at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that a study compared the case fatality rate and mortality rate of relevant countries in the two periods of August to October last year and From November to January this year, and the case fatality rate during the epidemic of the Omiljung strain did decline, but the total number of deaths caused by the epidemic in the same period was higher than the number of deaths in the same period of the Delta strain epidemic. It can be said that the harm of the epidemic of the Omikejun strain is still serious, and it is not the flu that people think. This also suggests that COVID-19 is not a "big flu".

Edited by Ma Haoge Proofreader Li Lijun