The culprit of this round of national epidemic has been found! Mutated strains subvert expert cognition and sound the alarm in many provinces
Recently, the COVID-19 epidemic in China has shown a trend of multiple sporadic and localized gatherings, with new cases spreading across 29 provinces across the country!
Looking back at the statistics of the epidemic situation since September, it can be seen that since late October, the number of new confirmed cases + asymptomatic infections in the country has continued to increase, and Wuhan has once again since the wave of the epidemic in 2020. Outbreak of COVID-19. In addition to Wuhan, Zhengzhou, Henan, Xinjiang, Heilongjiang, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Inner Mongolia and other places, the epidemic situation is equally severe!
One of the important reasons for the sudden emergence of the national epidemic in this round is the continuous mutation of Omicron . According to the gene sequencing of the virus circulating in Wuhan this round by the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, it belongs to the BA.5.2 evolutionary branch of the Omicron variant strain. How scary is this strain? How serious is this round of epidemic? Let's analyze it.
Why did the Omicron BA.5.2 evolutionary branch spread so quickly?
According to the introduction of Yang Xiaobing, director of the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the BA.5.2 variant strain currently circulating in Wuhan has the following characteristics:
1. High viral load
The level of viral load determines the strength of the virus's ability to spread. According to experts' estimates, the basic reproduction number of the BA.5.2 mutant strain is 18.6, which means that the strain can infect 18 people on average. rare. And even if they are diagnosed or asymptomatically infected, and the virus nucleic acid test is positive, but its CT value is low, it means that the patient will take longer to recover fully and is not contagious.
2. Short incubation period and generation gap
The time it takes for an infected person to go from being infected to re-infecting others is only 2 days on average, and the shortest is 24 hours. Therefore, this has also added a lot of difficulty to the prevention and control of the epidemic. Many infected people may have already infected others before they found their nucleic acid test results were positive. Because of this feature, there is a risk of insidious transmission in families and communities.
How serious is this round of national epidemic?
As of October 29, there were 401 new confirmed cases in 31 provinces and Xinjiang Corps across the country, and 1,704 new asymptomatic infections, which is also the peak since October. At present, there are 2,518 high-risk areas, 1,771 medium-risk areas and 317 low-risk areas in the country.
Although the epidemic caused by Omicron in various places has not yet reached the level of needing to close the city, but due to the large area and the rapid spread, the severity of the epidemic is actually no less than the epidemic that occurred in Wuhan the year before. According to this trend, combined with the characteristics of Omicron BA.5.2, it is estimated that this round of epidemic will not be completely subsided in a short time, so we need to prepare for a long-term battle with this virus strain.
The COVID-19 vaccine is mentioned again
In the current epidemic situation, the COVID-19 vaccine has been mentioned by many people again. Practice has proved that vaccination against COVID-19 does have a certain protective effect and can reduce the mortality rate of infection. And the third booster shot has been more than half a year since the start of the vaccination, and the Omicron continued to mutate during this period, so people are concerned about when to start the fourth shot? Some domestic experts pointed out that from the current observation results, China's third booster injection still has sufficient protective effect, so the current top priority is to ensure that all citizens, especially the elderly with underlying diseases, have completed the third injection. The booster needle, as for when the fourth needle will be vaccinated, depends on the country's unified deployment.
The fight against the COVID-19 virus is a difficult and protracted battle. We need to continue to consolidate our hard-won prevention and control achievements. At the same time, we must also pay attention to personal protection. We must have confidence and patience in the current epidemic prevention and control policies. Persevere, victory will belong to us in the end!