Xinhua News Agency, Tianjin, January 12. Topic: Large-scale “encounter” with Omicron – Focusing on the Five Focuses of the Tianjin Epidemic
Xinhua News Agency “Xinhua Viewpoint” reporters Mao Zhenhua, Bai Jiali, Zhang Jianxin
Following Shaanxi and Henan, Tianjin has become another focus area of the epidemic, and it is also the first large-scale encounter with Omicron mutants in China.
As of 14:00 on January 12, a total of 137 positive infections have been reported in this round of epidemic in Tianjin, including 76 local confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia, 17 local new coronavirus asymptomatic infections, and the other 44 pre-screened positive infections to be further investigated. Verification.
Where is the source of this round of epidemic in Tianjin? What are the characteristics of Omicron’s transmission? What are the local epidemic prevention measures? … Around the issues of public concern, “Xinhua Viewpoint” reporters have been conducting investigations for several days.
Focus 1: How is the virus tracing progress?
In December last year, Tianjin became the first city in China to detect a variant of the new coronavirus Omicron from inbound passengers. Nearly a month later, Omicron reappeared in Tianjin. Is there any connection between the two? Can you find out the “patient zero” of the current round of epidemic in Tianjin?
Zhang Ying, deputy director of the Tianjin Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that the two cases initially diagnosed on January 8 were not found to be related to imported cases, there was no recent 14-day absence from Tianjin, and there was no history of living in medium and high-risk areas. The whole genome sequencing of the virus further confirmed that the two local cases belonged to the same transmission chain, but they were different from those imported abroad.
At present, Tianjin is in full swing to trace the source of the virus. Zhang Ying said that on the one hand, the possibility that the virus was 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; Dig deeper around the clues.
On January 9, at the nucleic acid testing point of Zhongying Primary School, Gulou Street, Nankai District, Tianjin, the staff entered information for the residents to be tested by scanning the code on their mobile phones.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Sun Fanyue
Zhang Ying said that the Omicron virus has been circulating in Tianjin for at least three generations. What is this concept? “According to the previous ‘old’ virus strains, the intergenerational relationship should be 5 to 7 days, and the third generation is 15 to 21 days, which shows that the virus has been spreading in Tianjin for some time.” She said that during the epidemic During the medical investigation, it was found that 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 the current round of epidemics, whether it is traceability or epidemiological investigation.” Zhang Ying said. Experts said that it is very likely that “patient zero” has no longer detoxified when searching for the source, which means that it cannot be found through nucleic acid testing.
Although the source is unknown, it is reassuring that the chain of infection 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 a staff member of a childcare institution and the other was a primary school student. Among the 18 new cases on the first day, 10 were students in the nursing class or their family members, and 8 People are classmates of primary school students, which are two more obvious transmission chains.
Focus 2: What are the characteristics of Omicron communication?
On January 8, a local Omicron infected person was found in Tianjin. From 7:00 the next day, Tianjin, a mega city with a population of about 14 million, began to carry out nucleic acid testing for all staff. The reason why the action is so fast is to “race” with the spread of Omicron.
“The Omicron variant spreads very fast, and it may spread to a generation in 2 to 3 days or 3 to 4 days.” Gu Qing, deputy secretary-general of the Tianjin Municipal Government and director of the Municipal Health and Health Commission, said that the nucleic acid test of all staff members The purpose is to identify the potential risk of virus transmission.
On January 9, at a nucleic acid testing point in Tianjin Binhai High-tech Zone, staff members sample nucleic acid for the masses.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhao Zishuo
Facts have proved the necessity of nucleic acid testing for all staff. In the first round of large-scale screening, in addition to Jinnan District, where the original positive infections were concentrated, there were 3 districts with positive infections, including 3 cases in Xiqing District, 3 cases in Hexi District, and 1 case in Binhai New District.
Zhang Boli said that the Omicron variant 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 Omicron variant is rated as very high in the global overall risk assessment and has spread widely around the world.
Sun Yamin, a professor at the Institute of Public Health and Health of Nankai University, said that from foreign information, the Omicron variant has the characteristics of strong infectivity, short incubation period and mild symptoms. “It took only about 3 weeks for Omicron to replace Delta as the main epidemic strain in the world, which reflects that Omicron is very infectious.”
Focus 3: What are the symptoms of the infected person?
“The Omicron variant is indeed very contagious, but the symptoms are not obvious, and it is also highly concealed. It is more likely to be scattered or concentrated in multiple outbreaks.” Zhang Boli said. A number of experts, scholars and clinicians emphasized to reporters that although the initial symptoms of Omicron infection are usually mild or even asymptomatic, it must not be taken lightly, and the understanding of it is still deepening at this stage.
The reporter combed and found that among the positive infections reported in Tianjin so far, there are 17 asymptomatic infections. Zhang Boli believes that because the symptoms are generally mild or asymptomatic, patients have insufficient initiative to seek medical treatment, and it is difficult to detect them at the first time.
The protective efficacy of the new crown vaccine has attracted much attention recently. Both Zhang Boli and Gu Qing believe that vaccines are still effective in preventing severe illness. The current study also shows that in the vaccinated group, the risk of severe illness or death appears to be lower in Omicron. Gu Qing emphasized that on the one hand, we still need to strengthen vaccination and improve the coverage rate of vaccines, and on the other hand, we must do a good job in self-protection.
Children account for a large proportion of the positive infections in Tianjin this time. Many experts believe that the statement that “children are susceptible to Omicron” cannot be proved. The transmission chain that has been discovered in this epidemic is concentrated in cram schools, schools, etc., and there is chance. Zhang Boli said that Tianjin attaches great importance to the treatment of diagnosed children, and has invested in experts to adopt a one-person, one-policy treatment method to strive for a speedy recovery for the children.
Focus 4: How to prevent the spillover of the epidemic?
Previously, 2 local cases in Anyang City, Henan Province were found to be infected with the Omicron variant of the virus. Later, the source of infection in this round of epidemic in the city was identified as the source of infection returned from Jinnan District, Tianjin City to Tangyin County, Anyang City on December 28, 2021. 1 college student. On the 12th, Ganjingzi District, Dalian City also found that 2 people had positive nucleic acid test results during routine nucleic acid testing of people returning to Dalian from Tianjin. This has sounded the alarm to prevent the spillover of the epidemic.
As soon as the current round of the epidemic appeared, Tianjin strengthened the management of leaving Tianjin in a responsible manner, advocating 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 set up 279 inspection points on expressways and ordinary roads, and strictly inspects the negative nucleic acid test certificates of people who have left Tianjin within 48 hours, and the departure certificates issued by units or towns. Health code green code. Railway passenger stations have also begun to undergo strict inspections. The cross-city business of cruise cars, online car-hailing, and ride-hailing has been stopped.
The opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics is imminent. Some train stations in the Tianjin area have taken control measures such as suspension of service and suspension of sales. All inter-provincial trains entering Beijing and inter-provincial chartered trains have been suspended. All channels are strictly guarded. “I hope Tianjin’s strict control can ensure that the virus is ‘eliminated’ in Tianjin and that the Beijing Winter Olympics can be held smoothly.” Zhang Boli said.
Gu Qing introduced that Tianjin has paid close attention to whether the virus has spilled over to other places, and the list of people who have left Tianjin, close contacts, sub-close contacts and other personnel has been pushed to the relevant provinces as soon as possible.
In the face of the cunning Omicron, Zhang Boli emphasized that it is the most important to guard against foreign imports, people and objects, especially port cities and cold chain freight links, which are the key to curbing the spread of Omicron within the country. He also reminded that we should focus on the student group. At the moment, students are on winter vacation and college students are returning to their hometowns. The social contact is relatively extensive, and the risk of infection is high.
Focus 5: Is the supply guarantee for citizens in place?
China Resources Vanguard Xianshuigu Store is one of the nearest shopping centers to the closed area of Xianshuigu Town, Jinnan District. The person in charge of the store revealed that the prices of vegetables, fresh products and other commodities in the supermarket have not changed much compared with usual, and the supply of daily necessities such as rice, noodles, grains and oils on the shelves is sufficient and the categories are complete.
In order to ensure the “vegetable basket” of the people in the closed area, Jinnan District has launched a mechanism to ensure the supply of daily necessities, and has linked with 38 large supermarkets, vegetable markets and wholesale markets in and around the closed area. “The reserve of daily necessities in the whole district can reach 3,000 tons.” said Liu Yong, deputy director of the Jinnan District Commerce Bureau.
On January 10, near Linjin Garden, Xinzhuang Town, Jinnan District, Tianjin, staff of Wumart Supermarket delivered daily necessities to residents.Xinhua News Agency
Not only in the closed control area, Li Hong, deputy director of the Tianjin Municipal Bureau of Commerce, said that in response to the sudden outbreak, Tianjin immediately launched the emergency response mechanism for the supply and security of the masses, and mobilized market entities such as large wholesale markets, supermarkets, and vegetable markets to organize the supply of goods in advance. , strengthen stocking. At present, the farmers’ wholesale market in Tianjin has sufficient supply, and the supply and demand of meat, eggs and vegetables have remained basically balanced. The stock of vegetables has increased from 2 days to 3 to 4 days, and the stock of rice, noodles and oil has increased from 20 days to 30 days.
On the morning of the 9th, some commodities such as vegetables, eggs, and pork were out of stock for a short time due to the over-traffic and centralized procurement of Tianjin citizens in a short period of time and the lack of stocking space in the vegetable market. Market supply has basically returned to normal.
Residents buy goods in Tianjin Wumart Supermarket (Huayuan Store) on January 10.Xinhua News Agency
The Tianjin Municipal Bureau of Commerce has also strengthened market monitoring to keep abreast of the sales, prices and inventory of more than 240 necessities of life companies at any time, cooperate with market supervision departments to publicize and remind market operators, and resolutely crack down on price gouging and malicious price increases.
In addition, Tianjin’s electric power business hall “dos it right away, and it’s done right away” to promote the “no face-to-face” service that relies on online processing; many hospitals in Tianjin, such as Taixin, have opened online consultations, and prescription drugs can be mailed to their homes; Tianjin Public Transport Group mobilized vehicles to assist in the transfer of medical staff and quarantined citizens… All departments took action, and a series of warm-hearted measures “covered” people’s livelihood needs and escorted the whole people against the epidemic. (Participating reporters: Liu Weizhen, Song Rui)
.