Risk of re-infection with new crown upon return from home? Experts: the probability is very low

Read Time:2 Minute, 32 Second

“From the first day of the Lunar New Year to today, not many patients have come to the clinic for fever, cough and other suspected symptoms of the new crown. There were only three yesterday, and none this morning.” Staff from the Community Health Service Center of Qingdao High-tech District, Shandong Province, told reporters on Jan. 25.

Passengers waiting for ticket check at Xi’an North Station on Jan. 24.

Reporters called many community hospitals such as Heping Community Health Service Center in Ningxia Road Street, North District, Qingdao City, Shandong Province, and Longtan Community Health Service Center in Chenghua District, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, and the staff said that not many patients visited the hospital for fever and dry cough after the Spring Festival.

As the Spring Festival holiday is coming to an end, many people who will be returning are worried about the risk of re-infection after returning from their hometown. Zhao Wei, director of the Center for Biosafety Research at the School of Public Health of Southern Medical University, told reporters that the effective sequences of the genome of the new coronavirus in all the local cases reported nationwide are all Omicron mutant strains.

“According to this, people who have been infected in the field should still be in the effective protection period of six months from now, plus the current prevalent strain is still the Omicron variant strain, and the possibility of immune escape is very small, so the risk of being infected after the return trip is also very small.” Zhao Wei said the risk of being infected after returning home is even lower if care is taken to stay home as much as possible, reduce going out and gathering, or if there is no experience of unprotected contact with symptomatic infected people.

“Is there a risk of infection after returning from home? Judging by the national performance, this concern has been redundant. Halfway through the Chinese New Year holiday, there has been no large-scale outbreak.” Hu Yang, deputy director of the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine at Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, also told the People’s Daily Health Client that the risk of re-infection after returning from home is low, “Everyone has just been infected, there are still antibodies in the body, and the probability of re-infection in the short term is relatively low.”

“In terms of the data released so far, the source of infection at the social level has been greatly reduced, objectively greatly reducing the risk of infection on the way back to work from home. Of course, from a prudent point of view, in order to avoid infection, it is recommended to wear a mask throughout the journey back to a confined place, such as when taking public transport, except during meals. Upon returning to your accommodation, it is recommended that you wash your hands and change your coat immediately. Also pay attention to your health and treat the clinical symptoms of neocoronavirus infection as soon as they appear.” Zhao Wei said.