Epidemic prevention and control enters a new phase

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On January 8, 2023, three years after the prevention and control of the new coronavirus epidemic in China, novel coronavirus infection was declared as “Category B, Management B”.

　　From the issuance of ten versions of prevention and control protocols and treatment protocols, to the introduction of “20 articles” and “new 10 articles” to optimize prevention and control measures, to the renaming of novel coronavirus pneumonia to novel coronavirus infection, and the adjustment from “category B The new coronavirus pneumonia was renamed as new coronavirus infection, and adjusted from “category B A control” to “category B B control.” …… In the face of the new coronavirus epidemic, China has always insisted on prevention and control while researching, summarizing and adjusting, and firmly grasping the strategic initiative.

　　”At present, the epidemic prevention and control into a new stage, is still eating strength, everyone is persevering efforts, the dawn is just ahead.” President Xi Jinping’s New Year’s message for 2023 was warm and earnest in every word.

　　Right now, with the continued optimization of epidemic prevention measures, people have felt the obvious changes – traffic, machinery rumbling, smoke and fire rising …… through the haze of the epidemic, mobile China shows a more vigorous vitality and vitality.

“B class B management” is never “let go of”

　　This should be the most lively one New Year’s Eve in three years. The day before the official implementation of “Class B”, China’s annual Spring Festival has begun.

　　At 9 p.m. on Jan. 7, staff at the entrance of Shanghai Hongqiao Station held a loud speaker and dispersed the passenger flow to different entry channels. There was no extra verification process, and passengers entered the waiting hall immediately after the security check. The hall has long been crowded with passengers carrying large bags, some returning home, some traveling.

Above: January 27, 2023, Shanghai Railway Station ushered in the peak of the return journey during the Spring Festival holiday.

　　This past Spring Festival, countless people embarked on the road of reunion, although there may still be one or another difficulties on the way, but it can not stop people’s firm determination to go forward together.

　　When winter and spring meet the Spring Festival, many people question whether this timing of the implementation of the new policy is inappropriate and appropriate. In response, Liang Wannian, head of the expert group of the National Health and Wellness Commission’s Leading Group for Epidemic Response and Disposal, responded that the timing determined is scientific, appropriate and in line with the relevant requirements.

　　On December 13, 2022, in response to the rapid growth of new infections, the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council investigated in a number of hospitals, pharmacy chains, and community health service centers in Beijing to understand on the ground the setting of fever clinics, the consultation and referral process, the operation of graded treatment, and the supply of drug stockpiles, emphasizing that the focus of work should be shifted from infection prevention and control to medical treatment to ensure a smooth and orderly transition of epidemic prevention and control.

　　From December 15 to 16, 2022, the Central Economic Work Conference was held in Beijing. The meeting emphasized the need to better coordinate epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development, optimize epidemic prevention and control measures according to the time and situation, earnestly implement the new phase of epidemic prevention and control initiatives, protect the public’s access to medical care and medication, focus on the prevention and control of the elderly and groups suffering from underlying diseases, and focus on protecting health and preventing serious illnesses.

　　On December 26, 2022, the National Health and Wellness Commission issued an announcement that on January 8, 2023, the new coronavirus infection will be adjusted from “Category B, Management A” to “Category B, Management B”. This is a major decision made by the Party Central Committee on the basis of the overall situation and comprehensive study and judgment.

　　Despite the best efforts of the relevant departments to prepare in all aspects, since late November 2022, the epidemic in many parts of the country has been multi-point and multi-chain parallel, epidemic aggregation and coexistence, giving people the feeling of being caught off guard.

　　In an exclusive interview with CCTV, Jiao Yahui, director general of the medical department of the National Health and Wellness Commission, said the public opinion was more “because of the inability to buy and get the medicine.”

　　”At that time, we proposed the idea is to give these medical institutions, including the grassroots, including secondary hospitals, drugs must be in place, to be adequate, the results to the reality of the situation is the fever clinic, fever clinic open, but the shortage of drug supply, is the shortage of supply.” Jiao Yahui further explained: “There are many reasons, such as the retail pharmacies were snapped up, the people first hoarded drugs, which is a very important reason; the second is that the production and supply of drugs is also provided in accordance with market demand, so all of a sudden the market demand for a short period of time, but the production capacity and output is needed to improve the time. In addition, in fact, including enterprises, production enterprises are also facing the problem of staff infection attrition, so a variety of factors led to, once a shortage of drugs. To now serious illnesses come up, because our country is still aging, especially the elderly with underlying diseases, so all of a sudden out of so many serious patients, we all have to go to tertiary hospitals, especially to these tertiary especially famous tertiary hospitals, our system is a pyramid, a large base to the tip of the tower to see a doctor, this contradiction between supply and demand will certainly be particularly prominent. “

Top: Anti-viral drugs (small molecule drugs) are in place at the pharmacy of Xietu Street Community Health Service Center in Xuhui District, Shanghai, Jan. 3, 2023, to ensure that residents can receive timely medication support treatment.

The good thing is that the most dangerous moment has passed, and most cities have basically passed smoothly. However, it is still far from the point where we can rest, and the “B class B control” is by no means left unattended, but the prevention and control of the epidemic in China has entered a new stage, the focus of work from “prevention of infection” to “health, prevention of serious illness The focus has shifted from “infection prevention” to “health protection and serious illness prevention”, from risk areas and personnel control to health services and management.

　　In order to achieve a smooth transition to the “category B B management” –

　　On January 6, the National Health Commission and the National Bureau of Traditional Chinese Medicine issued the “New Coronavirus Infection Treatment Plan (Trial Version 10)”. The program officially renamed the new coronavirus as “new coronavirus infection”, no longer requires centralized isolation and treatment of cases, and further improves the treatment methods in five aspects.

　　On January 7, the State Council Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism Integrated Group issued the “Prevention and Control Program for New Coronavirus Infections (Tenth Edition)”. The new version of the prevention and control program advocates vaccination and personal protection, adjusts the management of infectious sources and detection strategies, optimizes key aspects of prevention and control, and specifies emergency prevention and control measures during epidemics.

　　In fact, the adjustment of the focus of epidemic prevention and control will mean more refined services and protection, and the requirements for all aspects of work are higher rather than lower, and it will test our wisdom, courage and resilience even more. How to front-load and shift the focus of epidemic prevention and control work, make the optimization measures more detailed and practical, and comprehensively enhance the prevention, control and treatment capabilities is the top priority of the current epidemic prevention work.

　　”From Class A management of Class B infectious diseases to Class B management of Class B infectious diseases, it has not changed, it is still a statutory infectious disease as stipulated by the People’s Republic of China, and statutory infectious diseases are subject to the necessary preventive and control measures.” Liang Wannian stressed.

Asking science for answers and solutions

　　Looking back on the past three years of fighting the epidemic, everyone has their own deep feelings. China is a large country, with a large population, a wide area and uneven development. This is never an easy single-choice question to find the best solution for the collective interest.

　　But insisting on asking science for answers and solutions is undoubtedly the fundamental solution to the “epidemic”. China has always grasped the initiative of fighting the epidemic by understanding changes and adapting to them.

　　In October 2022, new outbreaks were emerging in China, and the speed of transmission was becoming more and more prominent – affecting 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities), with outbreaks lasting for about three months in some places, and the social cost of outbreak control rising.

　　Within the CDC’s National New Coronavirus Genome Database, a specimen of emergency, severe and fatal cases, sampled and collected from sentinel hospitals and sequenced by the genome, a large amount of data came together – the transmission index R0 value climbed up to 21, which means that without intervention With “1 transmission of 21” and a geometric exponential increase in the number of infections, the difficulty of prevention and control of Omicron is no longer comparable to previous generations of new coronavirus mutant strains.

　　However, the weakened pathogenicity of the virus is also becoming increasingly evident, with a greater tendency to infect the human upper respiratory tract – on November 9, 2022, 91.3% of asymptomatic, untyped and light types and 1.5% of heavy and critical types were infected in hospital in Urumqi; 98.6% of asymptomatic and light types were infected in hospital in Hohhot, and Heavy and critical types accounted for 0.36%.

　　In addition to the changes in viral hazards, the balance between the level of population immunity and the capacity of the health care system to withstand stress, and social public health interventions, has been the subject of close attention in China’s outbreak prevention and control –

　　Launching the world’s largest vaccination, as of early November 2022, China’s full vaccination rate for the entire population with the new crown vaccine has exceeded 90%; promoting reforms to improve the disease prevention and control system, and establishing a major epidemic prevention, control and treatment system that combines civilian and combat …… doing its best to control the epidemic in a shorter period of time with minimal cost, and doing its best to reduce the epidemic’s impact on economic and social development and people’s livelihood.

　　On November 10, 2022, the report of the State Council’s joint prevention and control mechanism on the study and judgment of the current epidemic situation stated, “Considering the declining pathogenicity of the virus, the high vaccination rate in China, and the efficient coordination of epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development, it is necessary to continue to promote the optimization and adjustment of epidemic prevention policies and measures.”

　　On this day, an extraordinary meeting was held in Zhongnanhai, as disclosed by Xinhua News Agency. Listen to the report on the prevention and control of the new crown epidemic, study and deploy twenty measures to further optimize the prevention and control …… General Secretary Xi Jinping chaired a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and delivered an important speech. At this meeting, twenty optimization measures were proposed for the first time, releasing a clear signal to the world and abroad that China is taking the initiative to optimize its prevention and control policies in response to the situation.

　　On November 11, 2022, the “Twenty Articles” were announced to further enhance the scientific and precise nature of prevention and control on the basis of the ninth edition of the prevention and control program. The twenty optimized measures focused on strengthening medical resources, promoting vaccination, accelerating drug stockpiling, and strengthening the protection of key institutions and key populations.

　　Since then, many places have announced adjustments to preventive and control measures such as nucleic acid testing and home isolation in accordance with the spirit of the twenty optimized measures to speed up the restoration of normal production and life order and reduce the inconvenience caused to the public by the epidemic prevention and control.

　　However, in late November 2022, some people reflected that some areas were “silent” in management and “cascading” in prevention and control, which caused great concern.

　　On November 30 and December 1, 2022, Vice Premier Sun Chunlan held consecutive symposiums at the National Health and Wellness Commission to listen to eight experts and eight front-line representatives of prevention and control work, including Zhang Boli, Shen Hongbing, Wang Junzhi, Liang Wannian, Du Bin, Feng Zijian, Yang Weizhong and Dong Xiaoping. Participating experts and representatives exchanged their knowledge and experience of epidemic prevention and control measures, and put forward their opinions and suggestions on epidemic prevention and control measures.

　　”Optimizing the prevention and control strategy asks for the needs and plans of the people, reflecting a people-oriented approach. To fight the epidemic, the most important thing is that everyone’s heart is in one place and strength is in one place.” Zhang Boli, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering who attended the symposium, said this is an important experience for China to deal with the epidemic of the century.

　　On December 6, 2022, the “new ten” was introduced, combining the experience accumulated in the response to the epidemic around the world and the outstanding problems faced, to put forward targeted optimization measures.

　　Focusing on medical treatment, production and supply of key materials, transportation, prevention and control of epidemics in rural areas, and management and protection of elderly institutions, multiple departments have stepped up their work to promote the implementation of the details and prepare for the optimization and improvement of prevention and control measures.

Above: Some residents come to receive the inhaled New Crown vaccine at the Laoximen Community Health Service Center in Huangpu District, Shanghai, Dec. 19, 2022.

New stage, new expectations

　　Epidemic prevention is a matter of life and development is a matter of livelihood.

　　Under the new situation, China is striving to achieve a difficult balance between epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development. This in itself is a firm practice of “people first, life first”.

　　Over the past three years, China has adhered to a timely, open and transparent information release system in accordance with the law, from “Article 20” to “New Article 10” to “Category B”, the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council has intensively held More than 10 press conferences, the first time to release authoritative information, to answer all the questions raised by the Chinese and foreign media.

　　In addition, the Ministry of Liaison thematic briefing, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regular press conference, the relevant provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities to launch, embassies and consulates abroad briefing …… from the capital to all over the world, and then overseas, thousands of conferences held in three years, all kinds of questions answered.

　　On January 14, the transatlantic phone call, connected China’s National Health and Health Commission and the World Health Organization. During the call, WHO Director-General Tan Desai highly appreciated the Chinese government’s efforts to respond to the new epidemic and thanked the Chinese side for the long-term technical exchange and sharing of epidemic information and data with WHO. The two sides agreed to continue to strengthen technical exchanges and cooperation on epidemic prevention and control, and jointly maintain global health security.

　　With the implementation of “Category B” in China, the optimization of the management of Chinese and foreign personnel exchanges has also received a lot of attention from the international community, with the highest expectations for economic warming and increased humanistic exchanges.

　　International public opinion has coincidentally pointed out that China, which is constantly optimizing and adjusting its measures to prevent epidemics, will become “the biggest driving force for global economic growth” and will lead to a rebound in global tourism.

　　Thailand’s Minister of Public Health Anutin sees this as an opportunity to revive the country’s economy and compensate for the losses suffered in the last three years. Tanzanian Ambassador to China Mberwa Kairuki also said that it is a correct decision for China to optimize and improve the epidemic prevention and control measures, which will create better conditions for the safe, healthy and orderly movement of Chinese and foreign personnel, and have a positive impact on maintaining the stability of the international industrial chain supply chain and promoting the growth of the world economic recovery.

　　After the “B class B control”, the flow of people and goods will be further smooth, which will inevitably bring more confidence to the global economic development.

　　”The country’s three-year epidemic prevention and control, I thought it was a success, and I always felt that in the history of human beings and this major infectious disease struggle, in fact, China has created a series of miracles.” Liang Wannian believes that China is now very close to the window period of the pre-epidemic state, but at the moment still needs to persist in its efforts again, “We will definitely be able to overcome the epidemic and look forward to the early realization of this pre-epidemic state.”