On July 20, Nanjing Municipality reported that 9 of the regular nucleic acid test samples of the staff of Lukou International Airport had tested positive. As of 24:00 on the 27th, the number of people infected with new crown pneumonia in Nanjing increased to 155. In addition, Anhui, Liaoning, Guangdong, Sichuan and other provinces have reported infections associated with the new crown pneumonia in Nanjing, most of whom are passengers passing through Lukou Airport.
In an interview with the "Xinhua Viewpoint" reporter, the interviewed experts said that the epidemic is still imported from abroad and spread within china, showing the characteristics of hidden transmission and wide range of transmission. We should learn the lessons of the epidemic and fully understand the problems exposed, and the normalization of prevention and control measures must not be relaxed, especially to strengthen the prevention and control of the epidemic in key places such as airports, stations, and ports.
Hot Spot 1: Why do cases continue to increase?
On July 20, the Nanjing Jiangning District COVID-19 Epidemic Prevention and Control Headquarters received a report from the lukou airport epidemic prevention special class, and 9 of the regular nucleic acid test samples of the staff of Lukou airport tested positive. In the days that followed, the number of infections continued to rise – 53 infected on the 23rd; 57 on the 24th; 88 on the 25th; and 112 on the 26th. According to the announcement issued by the Nanjing Municipal Health Commission, as of 24:00 on the 27th, Nanjing has reported a total of 153 locally confirmed cases and 2 asymptomatic infected people.
The reporter learned from multiple channels that there is currently a high suspicion that the infection caused by the lack of self-protection of the airport cleaning personnel after the arrival of the international flight disinfection and cleaning process, and then the formation of a cluster spread among the cleaning personnel, and then spread to other airport staff and passengers through the cleaning personnel, and the initial infection time should be around July 10. On the morning of the 27th, Nanjing reported that the "Delta" strain caused the epidemic.
The initial infectors of this round of the epidemic are all passenger aircraft cleaning personnel. Subsequently, cleaning staff, airport staff and related personnel fell ill one after another, and infected people were also found among passengers entering and leaving Lukou Airport.
Staff disinfection in Terminal 2 of Nanjing Lukou Airport. Xinhua News Agency
If the initial infection time of the current round of Nanjing epidemic is indeed July 10, it has been about 10 days since Nanjing reported 9 positive test samples on the 20th, and the virus has been hidden and spread for a period of time. At present, Nanjing has completed two rounds of nucleic acid testing. According to the analysis of a virology expert, according to the observation of the epidemic situation in Guangzhou and Ruili, infected people will be screened out in the second and third rounds of nucleic acid testing. At present, the epidemic situation in Nanjing should still be in the rising period, and infected people may continue to be found in the subsequent national nucleic acid testing.
According to the information currently released, there are airport cleaning personnel, ground crews, airport drivers, auxiliary police, etc. among the infected, and some infected people have also participated in group activities. On the 21st, relatives of airport staff have appeared among the newly infected people in Nanjing. On the 23rd, there were already two confirmed patients in the homes of the newly infected people. According to this judgment, many experts have judged that the occurrence of clustered epidemics and the possibility of further spread are very high, and there may be family transmission and community transmission in this round of outbreaks.
On the afternoon of the 26th, the Nanjing Municipal Party Committee Leading Group for Epidemic Response and the Municipal Epidemic Prevention and Control Headquarters held an expanded meeting. The meeting pointed out that the place where the current round of epidemic occurred is special, the virus is highly contagious, the prevention and control is difficult, and the situation is very grim. The meeting stressed that it is necessary to strengthen the control of Lukou Airport and related staff, centralized isolation sites, closed communities, and various passages from Ningbo, and strictly build the "four lines of defense" against proliferation and spillover.
Hotspot 2: How high is the risk of proliferation?
Nanjing City issued a notice on the 28th that there are currently 4 high-risk areas and 42 medium-risk areas in Nanjing.
According to expert analysis, the risk of spread of the epidemic in Nanjing is relatively high.
On the 23rd, Anhui Hexian reported an asymptomatic infected person, who was the spouse of the previous confirmed case of new crown at Lukou Airport. In addition, Xuanwu District, Jianye District, Qixia District, Lishui District, Gaochun District, Qinhuai District, Gulou District, Suqian City, Jiangsu Province, Wuhu City, Anhui Province, Shenyang City, Dalian City, Liaoning Province, Zhongshan City, Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, Mianyang City, Sichuan Province and other places have reported new crown pneumonia infections, from the published action trajectory, almost all infected people outside Jiangsu Province have had a history of stopovers at Lukou Airport.
Public information shows that in 2019, the annual passenger throughput of Lukou Airport exceeded 30 million passengers. As a transportation hub, Nanjing has frequent personnel exchanges. In particular, July is the peak tourist season, and after July 10, the passengers transiting from Lukou Airport are dense, and they are prone to secondary transmission and long-distance spread. According to expert analysis, there may still be infected people among the transit passengers at Lukou Airport, and further investigation is needed.
In addition, most of the covid-19 infections reported outside Jiangsu Province who have been to Lukou Airport on the trajectory are mildly ill and asymptomatic. It is precisely because of the presence of mild and asymptomatic infected people that the insidious transmission of the virus has put forward a new test for epidemic prevention. "Symptomatic is an open flame, which is easy to find and extinguish; but mild and asymptomatic is a dark fire, and it is difficult to find out how long and how far the virus has been transmitted." A public health expert said.
Nanjing Municipality issued a notice to strictly manage the "Su Kang Code" yellow code personnel who entered and exited Lukou Airport on or after July 10, and in principle, all of them will be subject to 14 days of centralized isolation for medical observation; where the conditions are not met, home health monitoring will be strictly implemented according to the norms. In addition, the risk level of communities (natural villages) and other areas during the local epidemic period has been accurately delineated, and the communities involved in positive testers have been closed and managed.
The Nanjing Municipal Headquarters for the Prevention and Control of the New Crown Pneumonia Epidemic issued a notice on the 27th, requiring that non-essential not to go out, non-essential not to leave Ningning; non-essential not to carry out offline festivals and large-scale conferences, galas, sports competitions and other activities; suspend the operation of KTV, cinemas, gyms, indoor swimming pools, bars, bathing places, mahjong halls, chess and card rooms and other closed places, and suspend the offline services of training institutions (including hosting).
Hotspot 3: How is the treatment of infected people?
The reporter learned from the interview that the patients in this round of the epidemic were admitted to the Nanjing Public Health Medical Center for unified treatment. At present, the national, provincial and municipal joint medical expert groups have been stationed to carry out round-the-clock consultations and guide the improvement of treatment plans. Adhere to the "equal emphasis on Traditional Chinese and Western medicine", implement "one person, one group" and "one person, one plan", and implement scientific and standardized, accurate and efficient treatment for patients admitted to treatment.
Yang Yi, chief physician of critical care medicine at the Zhongda Hospital Affiliated to Southeast University, said in an interview with the media that the patient's condition is generally stable, mainly mild and ordinary. The reporter learned from the Jiangsu Provincial Health Commission that as of 24:00 on the 27th, there were 4 severe cases in the confirmed cases, the main reason was that they had underlying diseases such as hypertension and diabetes, and the vital signs of the 4 patients were stable.
Some experts said that some high-risk groups will still be infected after vaccination, indicating that it is not all right after vaccination, and it is still necessary to be vigilant and do a good job of personal protection.
Experts believe that interrupting the chain of transmission is the key to effectively controlling the epidemic. Experts at the two levels of Jiangsu Province and Nanjing Municipality are carrying out the work of tracing the source of circulation. The close contacts and sub-close contacts that have been identified have been isolated and observed in accordance with the norms, and environmental sampling and disinfection work have been carried out at the same time.
Experts remind: The current epidemic situation is severe and complex, and prevention and control cannot be relaxed. It is necessary to always maintain a sense of personal protection, adhere to good personal hygiene habits such as washing hands frequently and wearing masks. As soon as symptoms such as fever, dry cough, fatigue, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat, decreased sense of smell and taste, conjunctivitis, myalgia and diarrhea appear, immediately go to the nearest fever clinic and take the initiative to inform the 14-day activity trajectory and contact history.
Reporters Qiu Bingqing and Zheng Shengzhu
Source: Xinhua Viewpoint