Wenhong Zhang: Do this well to truly win in the fight against viruses

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The School of Management of Fudan University held a New Year’s Eve forum on Jan. 8. Zhang Wenhong, director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases and director of the Infection Department of Huashan Hospital of Fudan University, said in his keynote speech “Keeping the original intention of serving the population” that the number of infections will increase after the new coronavirus is transferred to category B management. The epidemic situation is in the process of transforming from a pandemic to an endemic, and it is necessary to manage primary health care institutions well and sink more resources in order to win the battle against the virus.

On January 8, the new coronavirus infection returned to category B management. Zhang Wenhong said that the number of infections will increase after the new crown is transferred to category B management, so the medical service targets must cross from the individual to the population category. He cited the example of the Omicron variant, which caused more deaths in the United States than Delta in people over 65 years of age, and which will cause more harm to the population than Delta once the infection rate reaches a certain level.

Zhang Wenhong also cited the example of Singapore. Singapore completed vaccination during the epidemic phase of the Delta variant and did a better job of suppressing the three waves of the epidemic that came one after another during the Omicron epidemic by strengthening medical management, keeping the disease and death rate at a very low level.

“The number of infections will increase dramatically after the ‘category B B control’. If all medical forces are placed in secondary and tertiary hospitals and the community level is neglected, it will cause a huge crowding of medical resources.” Zhang Wenhong pointed out that medical resources and new crown treatment programs should be moved forward, the community level to seize the “golden 72 hours” of treatment. The elderly are prone to pneumonia and exacerbation after infection, but many cases of serious illness or even death due to pneumonia exacerbation are due to delays in the early 72 hours of onset, either at home or in the community without good standardized treatment.

Zhang Wenhong stressed the need for good management of primary health care institutions and sinking more resources to truly win in the fight against the virus. Building such a system requires a complete health care management system. Moving from serving individuals to serving populations is the key to dealing with a pandemic.

Zhang Wenhong said the future of the new crown epidemic is still uncertain, but the control of the epidemic is a constant pursuit of certainty. China is gradually entering an aging society, and multiple epidemics of neo-coronavirus may continue to occur in the future. In addition to the preparation of medical resources, there is a need to focus on the improvement of scientific and technological capabilities, as well as a series of community management improvements.

“The epidemic situation in China is in the process of transforming from a pandemic to an endemic, and this process will be very difficult. ‘If the road is blocked and long, the journey will be long; if you walk and don’t stop, the future is promising’.” Zhang Wenhong said.