(Fighting New Coronary Pneumonia) Global epidemic resistance may become "protracted war" Experts advise to adjust "play"

China News Agency, Beijing, March 30th: Global epidemic resistance may become "protracted war" Experts suggest to adjust "play"

China News Agency reporter Zhang Su

The total number of confirmed cases of new crown pneumonia in the world exceeds 700,000, and the epidemic has spread to 202 countries and regions. Fighting the epidemic may evolve into a "protracted war". What should be done in the hardest hit area? What should China do in the second half of the epidemic?

"Epicenter" in Europe and America: Changing Anti-epidemic Strategy

At the Second Global Coronary Pneumonia Multidisciplinary Forum on "Global Epidemic Prevention, Four Seas Concentric" held on the 29th, Zhang Wenhong, Director of the Department of Infectious Diseases, Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, Li Lanjuan, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Professor Lu Shan of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Essen Professor Lu Mengji from the Institute of Virology of the University Medical College and other Chinese and foreign experts exchanged their anti-epidemic strategies.

In mid-March, the World Health Organization called Europe the epicenter of the new crown pneumonia epidemic. However, according to the latest data, the "epicenter" may have been transferred to the United States with more than 140,000 confirmed cases. Therefore, the anti-epidemic strategies of European and American countries have attracted much attention.

Lu Mengji said that Germany's "play" mainly has two points. One is to step by step in response to the development of the epidemic, and the other is to ensure sustainability. Lu Shan believes that the United States has adopted a successful blockade strategy in the early stage, but because it ignored imported cases in areas other than China, it fell into the second and third wave of epidemics, and the diagnosis was confirmed by using a more sensitive detection method. Cases will continue to climb.

Tang Bei, an associate researcher at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs at Shanghai International Studies University, who has long studied global health governance, believes that it is still difficult to judge whether Germany and the United States have formed an established model. She analyzed the China News Agency reporters that the two countries ’anti-epidemic strategies are actually“ increasingly tight ”and there are also“ contradictions ”. For example, Germany has proposed to find a balance between controlling the spread of viruses and socio-economic operations, but for a period of two years, "how to assess the impact of the epidemic on other countries and even the world". For another example, the United States, the New York State and the federal government are playing a game of epidemic prevention policy, which also shows that the state ’s anti-epidemic policy may also depend on its relationship with the federal government.

"Play" in various countries: change is inseparable

Zhang Wenhong bluntly stated that the strategy adopted by China is "hope to control the epidemic in the shortest possible time", and the idea of ​​European and American countries is to "control the epidemic through a relatively long period of time." With the development of the epidemic, European countries have adopted approaches such as "closing the city", "restricting crowd gathering", and "calling on wearing masks", which have approached China's approach.

"Traditional quarantine measures may still be the most effective method in the early stages of an epidemic." Zhang Wenhong wrote that after countries initially adopted measures to "protect the economy" that failed to control the epidemic, they gradually accepted and recognized this " "Traditional" approach.

Tang Bei told our reporter that whether it is China, Singapore, South Korea or Germany, the United States and other developed countries that have been relatively successful in controlling the epidemic, the "play" is inseparable, that is, "the treatment side cannot be used to respond to the epidemic." One of China's anti-epidemic experiences is to achieve "early detection, early reporting, early quarantine, and early treatment", and this principle is universal.

During the "epidemic" in this war, China quickly built square cabin hospitals to solve the shortage of beds, which was widely recognized and promoted to Italy, Iran, Britain, the United States and other countries. Lu Shan noted that several states in the United States have started building cabin hospitals, and he emphasized that it is more important to isolate mild patients so as to prevent "cases from overwhelming the medical system."

As a "pioneer" in the fight against epidemics, Chinese medical workers also shared treatment technologies with their global counterparts in a timely manner. Academician Li Lanjuan introduced the practice of artificial liver blood purification in the treatment of critically ill patients. According to the reporter's understanding, Chinese experts have been invited to elaborate on the process of plasma therapy for ex-patients at technical exchange meetings.

Looking to "end": Strengthening policy coordination

The spread of the local epidemic in China has been basically blocked, but the experts did not give a clear and optimistic answer when looking forward to the end of the global new coronary pneumonia epidemic. Zhang Wenhong also predicted that the peak of the epidemic situation would be reached again after October this year.

Entering the "second half" of the epidemic-resistant epidemic, China must not only speed up work and resume production, but also prevent the epidemic from rebounding. Professor Chang Jian of Zhou Enlai School of Government Management of Nankai University told our reporter that there is a high degree of uncertainty as to when the epidemic will return and the scale of the epidemic, but the resources to deal with the risk are limited, so government departments need to think in terms of "problem solving" Transition to "risk management". He stated that plans should be established at different levels to store medical supplies such as ventilators.

Interviewed experts said that the epidemic prevention strategy of each country must also be adjusted dynamically according to the situation. For example, in the early days of the epidemic, Singapore was "outside pine but tight inside". When imported cases gradually increased, the country has also cut off the transmission of the virus through "hard-core" measures such as restrictions on entry and school suspension.

"When this epidemic will end depends on the most slack link in the chain. When countries with relatively weak public health systems end the epidemic, it will be the time when all countries will enter the" battlefield. "Tang Bei said.

According to her observations, the World Health Organization has urgently conducted online training for medical personnel in areas with relatively weak public health conditions, and organized global anti-epidemic technology exchanges. However, policy coordination among countries is still in its infancy, indirectly causing the epidemic to change from "annihilation war" to "protracted war". Therefore, there is an urgent need to strengthen policy coordination at the international level, and the World Health Organization must also play its due role in the fair distribution of health resources. (Finish)