China News Agency, Beijing, December 26th. China's National Health Commission issued an announcement on the evening of the 26th, renaming the new type of coronavirus pneumonia as a new type of coronavirus infection.
Why was "New Coronary Pneumonia" renamed "Novel Coronavirus Infection"?
On January 20, 2020, after being reported to the State Council for approval, the National Health and Health Commission issued an announcement to include the new type of coronavirus pneumonia ("New Coronary Pneumonia") in the "People's Republic of China Infectious Diseases" Class B infectious diseases stipulated in the Law on Prevention and Control of Diseases, and take preventive and control measures for Class A infectious diseases.
At that time, it was named "New Coronary Pneumonia", mainly considering that most of the cases in the early stage of the epidemic showed pneumonia.
According to the Q&A, after the mutant strain of Omicron became the main epidemic strain, the pathogenicity weakened, and only a very small number of cases showed pneumonia.
Considering that pneumonia only reflects the more serious illness after virus infection, and cannot summarize the clinical characteristics of all infected persons, the name of "new coronary pneumonia" was changed to "new coronavirus infection", which is more in line with the current characteristics and hazards of the disease.
In addition, the announcement issued on the same day also pointed out that, with the approval of the State Council, starting from January 8, 2023, the prevention and control measures for Class A infectious diseases stipulated in the "Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases" adopted for new coronavirus infection will be lifted; Novel coronavirus infection is no longer included in the management of quarantine infectious diseases stipulated in the Frontier Health and Quarantine Law of the People's Republic of China.
On the same day, the Comprehensive Group of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council issued the "Overall Plan for the Implementation of "Class B and B Management" for New Coronavirus Infection", which aims to efficiently coordinate the prevention and control of the new coronavirus infection epidemic and economic and social development, and securely and orderly introduce new coronavirus infections. The coronavirus infection has been adjusted from "Class B and A tubes" to "Class B and B tubes", and the risks that may arise after the adjustment are effectively and orderly dealt with.
Talking about the background of the formulation of the document, the plan pointed out that at present, with the mutation of the virus, changes in the epidemic situation, the popularization of vaccination and the accumulation of experience in prevention and control, the prevention and control of the new coronavirus infection in China is facing new situations and new tasks, and the prevention and control work has entered a new stage .
From the perspective of virus mutation, experts at home and abroad generally believe that the general direction of virus mutation is lower pathogenicity, more prone to upper respiratory tract infection, and shorter incubation period. The new coronavirus will exist in nature for a long time, and its pathogenicity has decreased significantly compared to the early stage. The resulting disease will gradually evolve into a common respiratory infectious disease.
From the perspective of the epidemic situation, the Omicron mutant strain has become the dominant strain in the world. Although the number of infected people is large, asymptomatic infections and mild cases account for more than 90%, and the severe and fatal rates are extremely low.
From the perspective of China's prevention and control foundation, China has received more than 3.4 billion doses of new coronavirus vaccines, and the vaccination rate of people over 3 years old has exceeded 90%. The research and development of specific antiviral drugs at home and abroad has made progress, and China has screened out "three medicines and three prescriptions" and other clinically effective prescriptions; the vast number of medical and health personnel have accumulated rich experience in epidemic prevention and control and disposal, and their prevention and control capabilities have been significantly improved.
The above-mentioned plan pointed out that China already has the basic conditions to adjust the new coronavirus infection from "Class B and A control" to "B and B control" based on comprehensive assessment of factors such as virus mutation, epidemic situation and China's prevention and control foundation.
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