Beijing, May 5 -- Recently, the World Health Organization announced that the new crown epidemic no longer constitutes a "public health emergency of international concern". In the future, how will China's epidemic prevention and control work be carried out? How will everyone's daily life be affected? On May 8, the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council held a press conference to respond to the above questions.
Video: National Health Commission: After the new crown epidemic no longer constitutes a "public health emergency of international concern", it is necessary to continue to implement the measures of "Category B and B Management"Source: China News Network
What is the epidemic trend in China?
Mi Feng, spokesperson of the National Health Commission and deputy director of the Department of Publicity, said at the press conference that at present, the new crown virus is still mutating, the domestic epidemic is generally in a state of local sporadic distribution, and the harm of the disease still exists. All localities and departments should continue to implement the measures of "Category B and B Management" to facilitate the masses' production and life while ensuring their health. It is necessary to continue to strengthen epidemic surveillance, early warning and information reporting, effectively grasp the mutation of the virus and the occurrence and development of the epidemic, enhance the reserve of medical resources, and improve the ability of clinical treatment.
Liang Wannian, head of the expert group of the National Health Commission's leading group for epidemic response and handling, said that the end of the "public health emergency of international concern" does not mean the end of the new crown epidemic, nor does it mean that the harm of the epidemic is completely gone, nor does it mean that China can let go of the new crown epidemic, but shows that with the current ability of human beings, this harm can be effectively controlled, and the relevant epidemic prevention and control work must continue to be done to protect the health and life safety of the people.
Chen Cao, a researcher at the Institute of Virology of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that at present, the main new coronavirus epidemic strain in China has become the XBB series variant. This is an Omicron recombinant variant, which has stronger transmissibility and immune evasion ability than the early epidemic Omicron variant, and is currently the dominant global epidemic strain. From the current surveillance data, it appears that these circulating variants, including the XBB variant, have no significant change in pathogenicity compared with the early circulating Omicron subclade.
Will the prevention and control level be adjusted accordingly in the next step?
Liu Qing, deputy director of the Department of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control of the National Disease Control Administration, said that we will continue to grasp the epidemic prevention and control work in the new stage around "maintaining health and preventing severe diseases", scientifically and accurately implement the prevention and control requirements of "Class B and B management", and continue to strengthen the construction of public health, disease prevention and control, and medical service systems.
At the same time, the National Administration for Disease Control and Prevention will continuously optimize and adjust prevention and control policies and measures according to the changes in the epidemic situation and the needs of prevention and control work, with the aim of ensuring that there is no large-scale epidemic, protecting people's life safety and health to the greatest extent, and minimizing the impact of the epidemic on economic and social development.
What are the changes in traveling abroad, studying abroad, etc.?
Liang Wannian said that the new crown epidemic no longer constitutes a "public health emergency of international concern", and countries can take targeted prevention and control measures according to their own conditions, which will further reduce and eliminate restrictions on transnational transportation, trade, travel, study abroad and other aspects, and increase the convenience of global personnel and goods flow.
He believes that for China, this adjustment is conducive to China's international exchanges, including trade, tourism, academic exchanges, study abroad, etc., and reduces the inconvenience caused by some epidemic prevention and control measures before. Second, it is conducive to social and economic development, and there will be more energy and time to develop the economy and improve people's livelihood.
He stressed that this does not mean that China is completely free of the new crown epidemic, but also continue to do a good job in relevant epidemic prevention and control work, continue to work closely with countries around the world, and jointly take targeted, more effective and cost-effective measures to prevent the spread and spread of the epidemic and protect the health of the people.
Data map: The police at the Hongqiao Border Inspection Station are conducting information verification on outbound passengers. Photo by Yin Liqin
Next, how to prevent the risk of overseas import?
Liu Qing responded that the reduction of restrictions on international exchanges will promote the movement of people between China and foreign countries, but may accelerate the import and spread of the virus. In order to reduce the risk of overseas epidemic importation and protect people's lives and health, we will focus on the following four aspects: epidemic monitoring and analysis, external prevention and importation, prevention and control of key links, and publicity and advocacy.
He mentioned that it is necessary to strengthen the surveillance of imported epidemics and new variants, standardize the handling of cluster epidemics that may be caused by new foreign variants, carry out epidemiological investigations in a timely manner, and take targeted prevention and control measures to strictly prevent the risk of a sharp rebound of the epidemic in China caused by imported epidemics and new variants. (End)