Beijing: Temporary population immunity protection has been established, and the risk of a new crown epidemic in the near future is small
Wang Quanyi, deputy director of the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, introduced that the city has established temporary population immunity protection, and the risk of the recent outbreak of new coronavirus infection is relatively small. He reminded that the elderly can use this “window period” to receive the new crown vaccine in time.
This round of epidemic is coming to an end
According to the sampling and monitoring data of influenza-like cases, in the fourth week of this year (January 23 to 29), the number of influenza-like cases in the cumulative number of outpatient and emergency visits of medical institutions above the second level in this city decreased by 40.87% compared with the previous week, compared with the previous week. It was 84.53% lower than the same period last year, and 93.74% lower than the peak of this epidemic season. A total of 453 respiratory samples from influenza-like cases were collected and tested in this city, of which 23 were positive for the nucleic acid of the new coronavirus, with a positive rate of 5.08% (11.59% in the previous week).
“After the peak has passed, the population has established temporary immune protection. In addition, the current international epidemic virus and the current round of epidemic strains in this city have a certain degree of cross protection. Therefore, the risk of an epidemic epidemic in the near future is relatively low Small.” Wang Quanyi introduced that the current round of the epidemic in this city is coming to an end, and the cases are in a state of sporadic cases, and the main epidemic strains are still BF.7 and BA.5.2. Although the crowd returned to Beijing at the end of the Spring Festival, the peak of the national epidemic has passed and will not cause a major impact.
Population serum antibody survey will be carried out
Wang Quanyi revealed that in order to comprehensively assess the infection situation of the new coronavirus and understand the serum antibody level of the community population, the city will soon conduct a population serum antibody survey. The survey is planned to be completed from February to March this year, adopting a multi-stage stratified random sampling survey method, selecting about 5,000 community groups from 16 jurisdictions and economic development zones, and conducting questionnaire surveys and serological specimen collection. The content of the questionnaire includes the basic information of the survey object, nucleic acid and antigen detection status, onset and treatment outcome, vaccination status and other information. This study will provide a reference for optimizing resource allocation and the prevention and control of COVID-19.
Considering that antibody levels will naturally decline over time, the city may conduct dynamic assessments as needed in the future.
Monitor virus mutation
“Risk assessment is the key task to be carried out by the disease control department.” Wang Quanyi said that the disease control department will monitor the mutation of the virus on the one hand and the epidemic intensity on the other.
The monitoring of virus mutations covers two major groups of people, inbound and local. The disease control department cooperates with customs, medical institutions and other departments to carry out nucleic acid detection and virus gene sequencing. “For example, in entry monitoring, the customs will conduct antigen and nucleic acid tests on persons with fever and respiratory symptoms, and samples found to be positive for the new crown and with a Ct value less than 32 will be sent to the CDC for gene sequencing. Persons who are in the incubation period when entering the country, when seeking medical treatment Medical staff will ask about the entry history in the past 7 days, and if the sample is positive and the sequencing conditions are met, it will also be sent to the CDC. These data can help professionals grasp the situation of virus mutation and importation.”
The monitoring of the epidemic intensity will be carried out in conjunction with the city’s existing surveillance system for influenza-like cases. Wang Quanyi said that hospitals above the first level in the city will report influenza-like cases, and currently 39 hospitals are conducting etiological surveillance. The monitoring data from the clinic can be calculated by relevant models, and the number of infected people and the epidemic intensity in the society can be inversely deduced. Combined with dynamic community surveys, network surveys and other multi-channel data to corroborate each other, it is convenient for the disease control department to provide early warning of the epidemic and medical institutions to respond.
expert tips
Elderly people can take advantage of the “window period” to get vaccinated
Wang Quanyi specially reminded that as a high-risk group for severe illness, the elderly over 80 years old can take advantage of the “window period” when the epidemic risk is small, and get vaccinated against the new crown vaccine in time. At the same time, it is still an epidemic season for respiratory infectious diseases. Citizens should take daily protection, pay attention to washing hands frequently, wearing masks in public places, and opening windows for daily ventilation. (Reporter Sun Leqi)
