Ming Pao reporter Zhu Yunfei
The team of Xiao Jieheng, associate professor of the Department of Medical Technology and Informatics of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, has analyzed the genetic sequencing of the new coronavirus in Hong Kong since February and November. The second case in Hong Kong was the first confirmed person to enter the urban area of Hong Kong. The type O virus strain in his body was the type of the subsequent large-scale outbreak and “rooting” in Hong Kong, including Tsing Yi Changkang Village, Hot Pot Family, Mahjong Family etc. Xiao Jieheng said that this means that the source of the virus continues to infect others in a short period of time, and it ends when it reaches the Buddhist temple group.
The second wave of epidemics came in in March. Those who arrived in Hong Kong from Europe, America and North Africa brought G-type, that is, the virus strain with the D614G mutation, the transmission power is at least 10 times higher than the original L-type virus, including Egyptian tour groups and European and American students. After the virus entered the community, the Discovery Bay wedding group was of type G, and this wave ended after the bar group.
The third wave of the epidemic was mainly dominated by GR virus strains (a type of G). The Leighton Hill family was the first GR1 group found in the community. The genetic sequence of the virus is similar to that of the confirmed Kazakh crew members living nearby. It is very likely It is the source of the family outbreak. At the beginning of July, the team found the GR2 virus strain in imported cases, and found the same virus strain at the cashier of Xinfa tea restaurant almost at the same time. Afterwards, many taxi drivers were infected, and there were cases of unknown origin all over Hong Kong, such as Shuiquanao Village, Shatin. The Tsz Wan Shan outbreak, the Hong Kong Thai Nursing Home, the Tuen Mun Fu Lam Group, the Kwai Tsing Container Terminal, and the Tai Wai Transport City Group all belonged to this virus strain until early September.
Xiao Jieheng believes that because the June policy allowed seafarers to avoid compulsory quarantine and even no need to keep samples for testing, an outbreak occurred. It was only after tightening the need to retain samples that the virus genes of seafarers and crew members were almost the same as those of the main local transmission chain. They are distributed throughout Hong Kong. The hotels “seem to be planted in different communities, which all at once led to outbreaks of different scales.”
At the end of September, Hong Kong tried “clearing” for a few days but was unsustainable, and the fourth wave immediately anchored. On October 11, the genetic analysis of Xiao Jieheng’s team suddenly found that the GR was changed to GH, which was described as “changing the sky overnight”, and then took the virus imported from the case at the end of September and the groups “Wuer” and “China Secret” that appeared earlier in Central By comparison, it is believed that the imported cases from India and Nepal are most likely to be the main cause of the outbreak. Subsequently, the Royal Garden Hotel, Mui Wo accommodation holiday group, and even the most populous singing and dancing group have almost the same genes. The fourth wave has not yet been resolved.
After fighting the epidemic for a year, Xiao Jieheng believed that the containment policy of the Hong Kong Center for Health Protection was “very strong.” Hong Kong has not tried to cause an outbreak because the local transmission chain has not been broken. The four waves are unrelated and caused by different imported cases. The fourth wave is continued. In the initial stage, it succeeded in “surrounding the canal (input case)”. After being circulated in a small community group for more than a month, when it came across a singing and dancing group, it caused a “bang out”.
He said, “The third wave of the epidemic has disintegrated at the end of September. We endured so hard that the transmission chain was broken to be cleared, but unfortunately foreign epidemics were introduced to Hong Kong again… Why is it so obvious that even an entrance (airport) can flow in? So many cases? What happened to the airport quarantine?”
Xiao Jieheng said that preventing passengers from coming into contact with the community after leaving the airport is the key. The establishment of quarantine hotels and point-to-point traffic can establish “invisible tunnels” from the airport to the hotel until the quarantine is completed, greatly reducing the input loopholes. The problem of neglecting the input is one of the reasons that led to the fourth wave…I hope (new measures) can prevent the fifth wave from appearing.”
The fourth wave is unclear. At the end of November, the eighth type, the GV strain, was found on British arrivals in Hong Kong. At the same time, in a number of recent cases exported to Hong Kong from the UK, a more transmissible N501Y variant was found Virus strain. Xiao Jieheng said that if there are still loopholes in the border defense in Hong Kong, “the house leaks in the night rain.” He said, “I’m already busy dealing with this (GH). It will be difficult to catch if we put multiple types into Hong Kong.”
Coronavirus Correlation Report:
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