Chinanews.com, Beijing, December 12 (Reporter Li Chun) Chang Zhaorui, a researcher at the Infectious Disease Management Department of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, pointed out in Beijing on the 17th that experts believe that China's new coronavirus infection is currently at a low epidemic level, and the public health risk of the Omicron variant BA.17.2 and its subclades in China is low.
On the same day, the National Health Commission held a press conference in Beijing to introduce the prevention and treatment of respiratory diseases in winter. Chang Zhaorui said at the meeting that the new coronavirus variant JN.1 is a subclade of the Omicron variant BA.2.86. The results of global monitoring show that since November, BA.11.2, especially the subclade of JN.86, has increased significantly in the global proportion and has become one of the dominant circulating strains in some countries. On November 1, the World Health Organization (WHO) adjusted BA.11.21 from a variant requiring global surveillance to a variant of concern, with the risk of clinical severe infection as low and the overall public health risk as low.
Chang Zhaorui said that the surveillance results of China's new coronavirus variant show that since the first imported case of BA.2023.8 variant was reported on August 31, 2, a total of 86 BA.2.86 and its subclade sequences have been reported across the country, of which 160 are imported case sequences and 148 local case sequences, and no severe and critical cases have been found.
Chang Zhaorui said that at present, the BA.2.86 variant accounts for a very low proportion of the sequences reported in China, but the proportion of imported cases in the sequences has increased rapidly since November, and its growth trend is gradually converging with the world. Experts believe that at present, the new coronavirus infection in China is at a low epidemic level, and BA.11.2 and its subclades account for a relatively low proportion, and the public health risk of this variant in China is low.
Chang Zhaorui also pointed out that so far, no unknown new viruses and new bacteria have been found in China in the monitoring of respiratory disease pathogens.
According to the information released by the National Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention on the 15th of this month, since the local JN.11 variant was first detected in November, as of December 1, a total of 12 cases of the JN.10 variant have been monitored in local cases in China. The transmissibility of the JN.7 variant may be relatively limited under the premise that the population is broadly immune to the Omicron variant, including vaccination and natural infection. (ENDS)