Summary │ Wu Zunyou: Dynamic zero does not pursue zero infection, but to find and eliminate together

Image source: Xinhua News Agency

【Epidemic Situation】

Q1: What is the overall development of the epidemic situation in China?

Wu Liangyou, deputy director of the Disease Control Bureau of the National Health Commission, said that from March 1 to April 18, 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps reported a cumulative total of 497214 cases of indigenous infections, affecting all provinces except the Tibet Autonomous Region. Recently, the national epidemic situation has gradually stabilized, but the impact of cross-input between regions is obvious, and the task of dynamically clearing zero in various places is very arduous. The epidemic situation in Hebei, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Guangdong, Fujian, Liaoning and other provinces generally tends to be stable. The epidemic situation in Jilin City, Jilin Province, continues to improve and is in a downward trend, the epidemic situation in Changchun City has shown a downward trend, and the newly infected people have been found in centralized isolation in recent days, but due to the large number of infection bases, community risks have not been completely ruled out, and it is necessary to continue to strengthen epidemic prevention and control measures to consolidate prevention and control results. The epidemic situation in Shanghai is still at a high level in recent days, the risk of community transmission is still high, the situation of prevention and control is still grim, and the task of prevention and control is still very arduous and urgent.

【Key points of interpretation】

Q2: What is the difference between "Dynamic Zero" and "Zero Infection"?

Wu Zunyou, chief expert in epidemiology at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that there is an essential difference between dynamic zero and zero infection. Dynamic zeroing refers to the discovery and elimination of the new crown epidemic that occurs, which not only prevents the new crown virus from circulating in the place where the epidemic occurs, but also prevents the spread of the virus to other areas. Dynamic zeroing does not pursue zero infection, but to achieve the elimination of an epidemic, it is also required to block the transmission in time at the place where the epidemic occurs, and no new infections occur. In other words, there is no requirement that the whole country be free of COVID-19 infection at any one point, but for each outbreak, it is required to be controlled in a relatively short period of time.

After a person is infected with the new crown virus, after 1-2 days of viral replication growth, detoxification occurs (i.e., nucleic acid test positive) and continues to detoxify for about 7-12 days. The new crown virus can only survive if it continues to spread among people. If an infected person is past their maximum detoxification time and cannot transmit the virus to others, the virus will be destroyed by the body's immune function. By identifying all infected people in an outbreak, physically isolating them to stop their spread, and keeping a maximum detoxification time from being transmitted to others, the virus is wiped out at the site of the outbreak. Therefore, the earlier the outbreak is detected and the smaller the scale of the epidemic, the easier it is to achieve dynamic clearance.

Q3: How do we deal with the ever-mutating coronavirus?

Wu Zunyou, chief expert of epidemiology at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that the mutation of the new crown virus has been continuing to occur, and some mutations have changed its biological characteristics, affecting its infectivity, pathogenicity, immune escape ability and so on. Some argue that the coronavirus has mutated towards increased infectivity and diminished pathogenicity.

In fact, from a biological point of view, there is no essential link between contagiousness and pathogenicity. The inverse relationship between these two aspects is more determined by the sociological attributes of human beings.

When pathogenicity weakens, the symptoms of the infected person are mild, and they have more time to social activities, contact more people, and cause more people to be infected. At present, it has not been found that the new coronavirus mutation has obvious laws in terms of infectivity and pathogenicity, and it is possible to develop in the direction of increased infectivity and weakened pathogenicity, and it is also possible to develop in the direction of increased infectivity and pathogenicity. No matter how it mutates, we have to prepare for the worst possible.

In view of the constantly mutating new crown virus, on the one hand, it is necessary to closely track the changes and progress of new mutated strains in terms of transmission range, infectivity and pathogenicity around the world, including whether diagnostic reagents can sensitively detect new mutated strains, and the effectiveness of existing vaccines in preventing infection, severe illness and death of new mutated strains. On the other hand, adhere to the normalization of prevention and control measures, including early detection, early reporting, early isolation, early treatment of the "four early" measures. For ordinary people, it is to do a good job of vaccination and adhere to the implementation of personal protective measures, such as wearing masks, paying attention to hand hygiene, and maintaining social distancing.

Q4: In the face of the new characteristics of the virus, how should we implement early detection?

Wu Zunyou, chief expert in epidemiology at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that "early detection" is the key to effective and successful control of the new crown epidemic. According to the characteristics of the epidemic, the mainland has adopted the general strategy of "external prevention of imports and internal prevention of rebound" and the general policy of "dynamic clearance". The outbreak on the mainland is locally transmitted by imports from abroad, and the mutated virus is also imported from abroad. Therefore, for the "early detection" of the mutated virus, the most ideal is to block the epidemic outside the country. To this end, we have taken two measures, one is to emphasize the isolation and observation of inbound personnel, so as to timely detect cases imported from abroad; The second is to emphasize the daily monitoring of people involved in the overseas cold chain or the transportation of goods, and timely discover the "material transmission to people" and subsequent "human-to-human transmission". Both of these measures are designed to bring imported outbreaks from abroad to the first generation of imported cases.

For the mutant strains that have been introduced into China, three measures are mainly taken for early detection. The first is to strengthen the control of the movement of people in areas with the new crown epidemic, strictly prevent the outflow of infected people, and cause new epidemics in other places. The second is to strengthen the monitoring of outpatients and test patients with fever, cough and other suspected new crown or cold in order to detect early cases in time. Third, for individuals, people with symptoms such as sore throat or pain and cough can use antigen screening methods to do self-testing, and if they find positive, they should report to the local epidemic prevention department in time for timely disposal.

【Epidemic Prevention and Control】

Q5: Judging from the situation and characteristics of this round of national epidemic, in the follow-up prevention and control, what are the reminders in terms of advance preparation and reserves?

Wu Zunyou, chief expert in epidemiology at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that our understanding of the new crown virus is still very limited. In the future, the development direction of the new crown virus mutation and epidemic situation is very complex, and it is possible to develop in the direction of increasing infectivity and weakening pathogenicity, and it is also possible to develop in the direction of increasing infectivity and pathogenicity. In terms of future COVID-19 prevention and control, there are four aspects to remind:

First, we need to be mentally prepared for a long-term battle against COVID-19, and we need to strengthen our confidence in defeating the epidemic, but we must not be blinded by the overly optimistic message that the epidemic will end.

The second is to improve the prevention and control capabilities, especially for the possible large-scale new crown epidemic, we must have the ability to predict and avoid the emergence of large-scale epidemics.

The third is to further strengthen the new crown vaccination work, especially for the elderly and people with underlying diseases. Vaccination is the foundation of COVID-19 prevention and control.

The fourth is to prepare for the possible large-scale COVID-19 epidemic, including personnel and team support; Have the ability to complete nucleic acid testing for all employees involved in the epidemic in a short, frequent and fast manner; Expand medical facilities to ensure that they can receive demand for health services arising from the surge in the number of infected people in the short term; Expand the isolation facilities in the square cabin to ensure that asymptomatic infected and mild cases can be isolated and observed in a centralized isolation; Make reserves of other medical treatment resources.

Q6: What is the latest vaccination situation in mainland China, especially the strengthening of immunization and vaccination of the elderly over 60 years old?

Wu Liangyou, deputy director of the Disease Control Bureau of the National Health Commission, said that as of April 18, the cumulative number of new crown vaccines reported nationwide was 3.317463 million doses, the total number of vaccinated people was 1.282.12 million, and 1.246769 million people had been vaccinated, and the number of people covered and the number of people vaccinated throughout the country accounted for 90.94% and 88.43% of the total population, respectively. 732.659 million people were immunized intensively, of which 25.426 million were continuously immunized. For the vaccination of the elderly over 60 years old who are more concerned, the coverage reached 225.521 million, and the whole process of vaccination was 213.938 million, and the number of coverage and the number of people vaccinated throughout the whole process accounted for 85.41% and 81.03% of the elderly population, respectively. Immunization enhancements have been completed for 154.874 million people.

【People's livelihood protection】

Q7: What measures will the government take to solve the current cross-provincial logistics bottlenecks encountered across the country, ensure smooth transportation, ensure the stability of the supply chain of enterprises, and ensure that production can be resumed as soon as possible?

Wu Chungeng, director of the Highway Bureau of the Ministry of Transport, said that since April 11, the Ministry of Transport has set up a special class for highway maintenance and smooth work, formulated a work plan, carried out daily scheduling, and guided all localities to carry out self-inspection and self-correction of toll stations and service areas. At present, phased results have been achieved.

Judging from the situation in the past few days, because of the epidemic, the traffic flow of the whole country, especially the traffic flow in the Yangtze River Delta, is declining than normal, but with the opening of the closed service area and toll stations, as well as the in-depth promotion of various measures, the traffic flow in the country and the Yangtze River Delta region, especially the traffic flow of trucks, is slowly rising.

Beijing News: How to ensure the smooth flow of inter-provincial logistics? The State Council's joint prevention and control press conference responded to the Beijing News we produced a video

In the next step, the Ministry of Transport will take several measures:

The first is to continue to supervise and guide all localities to take practical measures to ensure that highway toll stations and service areas remain open and operating, strictly regulate shutdown behavior, disclose relevant information in a timely manner, and accept social supervision.

The second is to optimize and improve the three-level dispatch of ministries and provincial stations, road police linkage, and regional coordination of the work mechanism of ensuring smooth communication, strengthen road network monitoring and dispatch, timely coordinate and solve problems such as road network blocking and blockage, and ensure the smooth flow of trunk highways.

The third is to guide all localities to scientifically and reasonably set up highway epidemic prevention checkpoints, further optimize the methods and processes of testing, reduce vehicle congestion and slow travel, and minimize the impact of the epidemic on the operation of the road network.

The fourth is to continuously optimize service measures. Earnestly do a good job in ensuring services such as toilets, catering, and refueling for stranded vehicle personnel in the service area. In the service area with relatively large traffic flow, we also need to set up nucleic acid testing points encrypted to provide convenient services for truck drivers to test nucleic acids.

Finally, it is necessary to implement 24-hour duty duty, timely accept complaints and reports and calls, and coordinate and solve various problems encountered in the work in a timely manner in accordance with the principle of "one matter and one office, special affairs, and urgent matters".

Q8: How to take effective measures to ensure the effective supply of "vegetable basket" products?

Mao Dezhi, deputy director of the Department of Cooperative Economy of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and a first-level inspector, said that the total production volume of the country's "vegetable basket" products is guaranteed, and the current area of vegetables in the field is 73.84 million mu, and the output reached 19.3 million tons in early April, which is equivalent to providing 2.7 kg of vegetables per person per day. In the first quarter, the output of meat, eggs and milk also increased by 8.8%, 2.5% and 8.3% respectively year-on-year, and the supply of aquatic products was stable, which could fully meet the consumption needs of the masses from the perspective of quantity, and the main problem at present was the poor logistics and distribution in some areas. Recently affected by the epidemic, some areas have encountered problems such as field harvesting difficulties, cross-regional transportation difficulties, and urban distribution difficulties to varying degrees.

The first is to do a good job in the production of "vegetable basket" products. Rationally arrange the varieties of vegetables at the ripening stage and the stubble on the market, promote the development of fast-growing leafy vegetables and sprouts in large and medium-sized cities with a relatively short growth period, accelerate the maturity and listing, and increase the local supply. Ensure the normal order of transportation and marketing of livestock and poultry and aquatic products out of the pond, and smooth the supply and transportation of breeding stock and poultry (seedlings), feed, etc. Actively guide large-scale business entities to carry out mutual assistance and cooperation, exchange labor, and ensure the normal development of production and harvesting.

The second is to promote the smooth circulation of "vegetable basket" products. Together with relevant departments, urge all localities to include agricultural products such as grain, oil, vegetables, fruits, meat, eggs, milk, and aquatic products in the scope of normalized epidemic prevention and control key guarantee materials, and give priority to the issuance of national unified permits for key material transport vehicles. For agricultural product transport vehicles with green asterisks on the communication itinerary card of drivers and passengers and entering and leaving epidemic-related areas across provinces, they must not arbitrarily restrict passage or persuade them to return without authorization if they hold a pass and meet the requirements for epidemic prevention.

The third is to strengthen the supply of "vegetable basket" products in key areas. Promote the establishment of "vegetable basket" product transfer stations, connection areas or distribution yards as soon as possible in closed areas across the territory, and adopt methods such as "substitution without changing cars" and "one car and one killing" to solve the problem of cross-regional transportation. Implement the "white list" management mode of communication itinerary cards, and on the basis of strictly implementing measures such as health monitoring and nucleic acid testing, in principle, the drivers and passengers of trucks entering and leaving the closed areas of the whole territory will not be isolated in principle. At the same time, restore the function of circulation nodes such as wholesale markets and community vegetable stores as soon as possible to strengthen community distribution guarantees.

The fourth is to do a good job in the production and marketing docking of "vegetable basket" products. Promote the establishment of stable production and marketing cooperation between large and medium-sized cities and major production areas, and organize wholesale markets, supermarkets, e-commerce platforms and other entities to directly connect with production bases to stabilize the supply of goods and smooth production and marketing. Resolutely crack down on hoarding, price gouging, malicious speculation and other behaviors.

Edited by Chang Jiang Proofreader Li Lijun