Newsweek丨Will there be more epidemics on the road home during the Spring Festival?
Entering the winter season, multiple epidemics have appeared at the same time, and the management of cold chain food has become more difficult.
After entering December, there have been more than a dozen places in China that have found positive tests for imported cold chain food or outer packaging nucleic acid. After more than half of December has passed, the Spring Festival is not far away. How do people defend themselves? To?
How can we have a safe year?
Was fined for buying imported cold chain food online?
This Friday is the tenth day of home quarantine for Mr. Wang in Huanggang, Hubei. The reason why his family was quarantined at home was that the imported food they bought online was found to be a problem.
Mr. Wang, a resident of Huanggang, Hubei: On December 8th, the epidemic prevention department called us and asked if we bought the frozen food on which platform. I checked it and found that there was a problem.
Last Tuesday, December 8th, a cold chain storage center in Hongshan District, Wuhan found that one imported frozen pork tenderloin tested positive, and some pork from the same batch passed the Meituan Optimal Platform last month. Flowing into Huanggang City, Mr. Wang is one of 24 online buyers.
Mr. Wang, a resident of Huanggang, Hubei: I bought it on the online shopping platform on the 24th of last month. This was mainly for convenience. The weather was very cold those days and I bought it on the platform without going out.
What was even more unexpected for Mr. Wang was that he not only paid for the nucleic acid test of his family, but also had to pay a fine of 200 yuan. The punishment was based on the announcement issued by the Huangzhou District Epidemic Prevention and Control Headquarters on October 28: "The whole district The purchase, storage, and sale of imported frozen meat and seafood products are completely prohibited in the country.” According to this, the local residents determined that 24 households were illegally buying imported frozen products online.
Mr. Wang, a resident of Huanggang, Hubei: I paid the money by myself at that time, and the government fined it 200 yuan only later.
At that time, the police station called and had to go there because I had to deal with it after the isolation, and I had not paid the fine.
How can consumers be punished if they buy the goods in question?
Can the announcement of the epidemic prevention headquarters serve as a basis for punishment?
After the incident was reported, it caused extensive discussion.
Last Saturday, the Huangzhou District Epidemic Prevention Headquarters issued a notice in response: We apologize for improper handling of 24 residents, administrative penalties such as fines have been revoked, and nucleic acid testing fees have been returned to residents.
Tong Wenjun, Director of the Office of the Epidemic Prevention and Control Headquarters of Huangzhou District, Huanggang City: This is the first time for Huangzhou that cold-chain foods involved in the epidemic have entered Huangzhou.
We really feel that the danger is still very close to us. It is precisely because we attach great importance to it and are highly nervous. We want to extinguish this dangerous situation as soon as possible. Maybe we have also taken some inappropriate measures, such as right Residents who shop online are fined and so on. Of course, we quickly realized this problem, and we quickly corrected it.
Regarding the network platform Meituan Optimum, the Huangzhou market supervision department has already imposed penalties, and the person in charge of the platform is negotiating the losses with 24 consumers.
Mr. Wang, a resident of Huanggang, Hubei: A conscientious company should check the quality of the products they sell, especially food safety, which ranks first.
Why can this batch of problematic pork flow to the market?
Are there loopholes in the intermediate links?
It remains to be investigated by relevant departments.
And why does Huangzhou District completely ban the purchase, storage and sale of imported cold chain foods?
The relevant person in charge stated that in October this year, two batches of untested frozen meat were found in a local supermarket. Some of the raw materials were imported ingredients. The local government paid a large administrative cost for the flow adjustment and nucleic acid testing. This is the direct cause of the total ban.
Huangzhou is not the only ban on imported cold-chain food. Fuchuan in Guangxi prohibits the purchase of new imported cold-chain food.
Some large-scale farmers' markets in Wangcang, Sichuan and Xi'an, Shaanxi have banned all merchants from selling imported cold chain foods since November.
Lu Hu, a staff member of the Xi'an Suzaku Agricultural and Sideline Products Logistics Center: Every batch of goods must be delivered to the market so that they do not mix these imported products and achieve zero sales of imported food.
The market entities dealing in imported cold-chain food are diverse and difficult to supervise. However, in the eyes of experts, they attach great importance to it, and there is no need to give up food due to choking and completely prohibit it.
Recently, many regions have adopted increasingly mature epidemic prevention measures to cut off the risk of cold chain food transmission: full coverage of cold chain foods after entry, full sample testing, full packaging, customs clearance, sterilization certificates, Nucleic acid test certificates can only enter the market with "three certificates complete". Consumers scan the QR code to trace all cold chain information. Through scientific epidemic prevention and strict supervision, the risk of imported cold chain food can be controlled.
Lu Hongzhou, a member of the Expert Committee on Disease Prevention and Control of the National Health Commission: How do we strengthen management and control, instead of blindly eradicating and blindly blocking, then we must have this confidence, we must have confidence, in fact, we have very scientific methods, we all It can be very scientific and very precise to determine whether it is polluted or not, so I don't think it is necessary to blindly prohibit the import of this kind of cold chain.
Epidemic + postgraduate entrance examination, are you ready?
During the entire epidemic prevention process, students’ study has always been a focus of attention. For primary and secondary schools, the staff is relatively fixed, but for universities, the flow of people is involved in order to have good schools and good classes.
Entering December, postgraduate exams are being conducted nationwide, and at the same time as the end of the term is approaching, the students will be on vacation and have to go home. Obviously, this is a big exam for epidemic prevention.
Liu is a former student who will take the postgraduate exam on December 26 and 27.
After failing the postgraduate entrance examination last year, she chose to study at home in Dongning this year, hoping to pass another battle and be admitted to her favorite school.
Student Liu: Actually, at the beginning, I didn't think it would delay anything. I also believed in the country's control of the epidemic. Then I prepared for the exam with peace of mind, and then paid attention to some information about the exam from time to time.
This year I am very clear about my goals, and then I am preparing very seriously.
Seeing the test day approaching day by day, just last week, a confirmed case of new coronary pneumonia was discovered in Dongning City.
After learning the news, Liu's review plan was completely disrupted.
Student Liu: After the case appeared, the city was directly "closed".
In fact, at that time, I felt that if a certificate was issued, if there was a nucleic acid test report, it should be possible to leave the city.
As a result, within two days, the strict control had been implemented and it was impossible to get out.
Then I will start contacting, when can I leave the city?
What's the situation in Jixi?
In fact, affected by the epidemic, candidates are required to bring valid nucleic acid test results to take the exam this year.
In the "Pandemic Prevention Announcement" issued by the Heilongjiang Admissions and Examination Institute, it is mentioned that candidates with a history of living in high-risk areas in the province must take the test with valid nucleic acid test results within 7 days.
However, for the current classmate Liu, even if she can provide valid test results, she still cannot take the exam.
Because the two days of the written test coincided with the 14-day isolation period.
According to statistics, the number of applicants for master's degree candidates this year reached 4.22 million, an increase of 810,000 over last year.
The vast majority of candidates can take the test in a low-risk environment, but in some medium-to-high-risk areas, there are still students who have the same experience with Liu.
There is still one week before the first exam. Liu is still reviewing, and she is also waiting for a chance to take the exam.
Since the beginning of winter, sporadic local cases have appeared in many parts of the country, which reminds the education system that the string of epidemic prevention and control must continue to be tightened.
On December 1, the Ministry of Education issued a notice to deploy campus epidemic prevention and control work this winter and next spring, requiring colleges and universities to adhere to the principle of "staggered peaks" and arrange for students to leave school in batches and leave school in an orderly manner.
At the moment, near the end of the term, many places in Heilongjiang Province will advance the winter vacation time for kindergartens, primary and secondary schools to around New Year's Day in 2021.
Colleges and universities, including Heilongjiang University, will also let students go home in batches starting next Monday.
In addition, colleges and universities in other provinces are also gradually publishing holiday schedules based on local actual conditions.
Lu Hongzhou, member of the Expert Committee of Disease Prevention and Control of the National Health Commission: The school has always been a very important unit for our prevention and control, because if it occurs between schoolmates, a classroom, and a dormitory, it is prone to cluster cases, so the school’s Prevention and control have always been very strict.
In fact, every school has a corresponding plan. Staggered peak holidays can stagger the entire country's peaks of students, including the peak of school opening.
This avoids overcrowding and the spread of possible epidemics.
The Spring Festival is coming home
After all, this year’s situation is special. As far as I know, many colleges and universities have made preparations to start school a little later in advance. Some colleges and universities that originally planned to have a holiday in mid-to-late January also received notices that the holiday time should be advanced.
Obviously, this involves the Ministry of Education's proposal this month: Colleges and universities adhere to the principle of staggering peaks during holidays. This is also an effort to minimize the risk of the epidemic during the frequent movement of people during the Spring Festival.
The students may go home early, but how will we deal with the return of the majority of migrant workers?
At the Guangzhou Railway Station approaching the end of the year, more people returned home.
As in previous years, the Guangzhou Railway Bureau began to book tickets for groups of migrant workers two months before the official Spring Festival.
On Monday, there are 8 processing points in Guangdong province, where you can book tickets for labor companies and groups of migrant workers returning home in groups.
Although affected by the epidemic this year, the prevention and control pressure on stations has increased, but no matter how far away, it will be difficult to stop the pace of going home.
In this factory in Dongguan, Guangdong, the workers were still rushing to make year-end orders. They learned that the train tickets for the Spring Festival transport from Guangdong had started group booking. Liu Bin from Hunan signed up early. Like the majority of migrant workers, It is their wish to go home normally for the New Year.
Enterprise employee Liu Bin: The company has this benefit, which is to consider that more employees can't buy tickets when they go home during the Spring Festival and spend more time.
Large provinces such as Guangdong where migrant workers flow in more frequently face the pressure of the Spring Festival travel every year.
The temperature dropped at the end of the year, which coincided with a critical period for epidemic prevention and control, but the date of returning home is getting closer.
Earlier this month, at the State Council’s joint prevention and control working mechanism press conference, the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Transport made a research and judgment on the overall situation of the movement of people at the end of the year.
Li Huaqiang, deputy director of the Department of Transportation Services of the Ministry of Transport: The Spring Festival Transport next year is particularly special, with heavier tasks and greater pressure.
The preparations for the Spring Festival Transport have been launched recently.
In addition to railway transportation, which is the main force in preparations for the Spring Festival, the civil aviation sector, which has focused on preventing foreign imports since the epidemic, is also facing increasing pressure from domestic transportation at the end of the year.
According to relevant sources from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, during the New Year's Day and Spring Festival holiday, passenger traffic will be close to the same period before the epidemic.
Han Guangzu, Deputy Director of the Flight Standards Department of the Civil Aviation Administration: Taking into account the needs of epidemic prevention and control, it is recommended that qualified passengers travel as far as possible and avoid the peak period around the Spring Festival.
Take care of personal protection during the journey, wear masks throughout the journey, do not take off masks unless necessary, and try to use the mobile App for self-check-in and scan code boarding to reduce contact.
Some people worry that unnecessary human obstacles will also appear in the Spring Festival next year?
For every returnee, after arriving at the destination, whether they can leave the station smoothly is very important.
This health QR code serves for scientific epidemic prevention, and there has been a situation of "codes do not recognize each other" in previous applications.
This month, the Health and Health Commission and other three departments issued relevant notices, which put forward more detailed requirements for the “one-code access” of the health code, clarifying that the health code information of cross-regional migrants is credible and usable in each region. In low-risk areas, except for special places and special personnel, health codes should not generally be checked.
Lu Hongzhou, member of the National Health Commission’s Disease Prevention and Control Expert Committee: We are now declaring all medium-risk or high-risk by declaring a certain building, a certain community, a certain village, a certain small place, rather than the previous one. All cities are high-risk or low-risk. We are now more rational and scientific in dealing with the epidemic.
One code can be used throughout the country, reducing these unnecessary troubles and facilitating the inter-provincial flow of our different provinces.
From increasing obstacles and strict restrictions, to using more scientific means to serve and facilitate returnees, in the opinion of experts, after the test of the large-scale movement of people during the November holiday, next year’s Spring Festival transportation will continue in an orderly manner under the epidemic, but The Spring Festival transport work cannot be taken lightly.
Lu Hongzhou, a member of the National Health Commission's Disease Prevention and Control Expert Committee: There are concerns, but if there are no infected or virus-carrying people to move.
Then the movement of people during the Spring Festival will not lead to the spread of this epidemic.
Unlike during the May 1st and 11th holidays, our temperature is now down.
When the temperature is relatively low, whether we take the bus, or our family gathering, it is easy to be in a confined space. This confined space is similar to our May Day and November when the weather is hotter. It is more likely to cause the spread of this virus, which is something we need to worry about.
Although we have all walks of life and various anti-epidemic measures, the Chinese New Year is a kind of belief, and the relatively large-scale Spring Festival transport is still inevitable.
In this process, how to adhere to the personal epidemic prevention countermeasures that have lasted for almost a year is still the top priority.
In fact, it is complicated and simple. Everyone continues to wear masks, wash hands frequently, do not get together, and gather less. We will live a safe year as much as possible.