[Explanation] On April 19, at the press conference of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council, Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist of the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that we must be ideologically prepared for the long-term struggle against the new crown, and we must be prepared to face possible outbreaks. The scale of the new crown epidemic.

  [Concurrent] Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention

  It should be said that the future (new crown) virus mutation and the development direction of the epidemic are very complicated. It may become more infectious and less pathogenic as expected, or it may become more infectious and pathogenic. direction to develop.

The first reminder is that we must be mentally prepared for a long-term battle against the new crown. We must further enhance our confidence in defeating the new crown, and at the same time not be deceived by those overly optimistic messages that the epidemic will end this year.

The second reminder must improve our prevention and control capabilities.

The third reminder is to strengthen (new crown) vaccination work.

The fourth reminder is to do a good job in dealing with a possible large-scale (new crown) epidemic.

  [Explanation] Wu Zunyou said that the mutation of the new coronavirus has continued to occur, and some mutations have changed its biological characteristics, affecting its infectivity, pathogenicity, and immune escape ability.

Some people believe that the new coronavirus has mutated towards greater infectivity and less pathogenicity.

But from a biological point of view, there is no essential link between infectivity and pathogenicity.

  [Concurrent] Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention

  When the pathogenicity of the virus is weakened, the symptoms of the people we infect will be milder, and he will have more time to be active in society and be able to contact more people and cause more infections.

So far, the regularity of the new coronavirus mutation has not been found. It may become more infectious and less pathogenic, and develop in the direction we expect. It may also become more infectious and pathogenic. Also develop in this direction.

But no matter how it mutates, we always have to prepare for the worst possible.

  [Explanation] Wu Zunyou believes that "early detection" is the key to effectively and successfully controlling the new crown epidemic.

According to the characteristics of the epidemic, China adopts the general strategy of "preventing imports from abroad and preventing rebound from within" and the general policy of "dynamic clearing".

The epidemic in China is a local transmission caused by overseas import, and the mutated virus is also imported from abroad.

For the "early detection" of mutated viruses, the ideal is to keep the epidemic out of the country.

  [Concurrent] Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention

  The first is to emphasize the isolation and observation of people entering overseas, so as to detect cases imported from abroad in a timely manner.

The second aspect is the daily monitoring of workers involved in the (overseas) cold chain or the loading and unloading of freight, so as to detect the "human-to-human" and subsequent "human-to-human" epidemics in a timely manner.

  Reporter Liu Xuanting reports from Beijing

Responsible editor: [Chen Wentao]