The Omicron BA.5 variant has been reported in many places! How to prevent it? Please keep in mind

Since July 5, the BA.5 variant of Omicron and its branches have been detected in Xi'an, Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin and other places. According to Health Times, as of July 13, the BA.5 variant of Omicron had been reported in seven places within nine days.

7 places have reported

Omicron BA.5 variants and branches

Zhuhai, Guangdong

According to the WeChat public account "Zhuhai Release", on July 13, Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province held a press conference on epidemic prevention and control. It was reported at the meeting that from 0:00 to 12:00 on the same day, Zhuhai City had 27 new positive infections, including 13 confirmed cases and 14 asymptomatic infections. All of them were related cases of Hailian Kindergarten and were in the same transmission chain.

Gene sequencing shows that the genes of the new coronavirus in this round of epidemic belong to the Omicron BA.5.1 evolutionary branch, which is more contagious and spreads faster than previous Omicron virus strains.

Qingdao, Shandong

At around 9 p.m. on July 10, during the routine nucleic acid testing of all those who should be tested, Chengyang District, Qingdao City, Shandong Province found one positive case. The person was a staff member of the closed-loop management of the quarantine hotel for inbound personnel.

Li Minggang, member of the Standing Committee of the Chengyang District Party Committee and deputy district mayor of Qingdao, reported at a press conference on the prevention and control of the new crown epidemic held on July 11 that after genetic sequencing, the results showed that it was the Omicron variant of the new coronavirus BA.5.2.1, which was highly homologous to the genetic sequencing results of the new coronavirus in an imported case from abroad that was confirmed in the isolation hotel on July 7.

Shanghai

At the Shanghai New Coronavirus Pneumonia Prevention and Control Press Conference held on July 10, Zhao Dandan, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, introduced that based on a comprehensive analysis of the results of epidemiological investigations and viral gene sequencing comparisons, the virus infected in a social infection case reported in Pudong New Area on July 8 was the Omicron BA.5.2.1 variant, and was an infection related to entry from abroad.

Tianjin

According to a report by Tianjin Daily on July 9, experts from the Tianjin Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that all recent local positive infections in Tianjin were related to imported cases from abroad, and the gene sequencing results were all Omicron variants, which were three different evolutionary branches:

The cases associated with the managers of the closed loop in Haikou on June 26 involved the evolutionary branch of the BA.5.2.1 variant of the Omicron variant;

The people who entered and returned to Tianjin from Shanghai on July 5 and the related cases involved the BA.2 variant evolutionary branch;

The case associated with the closed-loop management personnel who entered the country on July 6 was an evolutionary branch of the BA.4 variant.

Dalian, Liaoning

On July 3, Shahekou District of Dalian City discovered one asymptomatic infection case among people who returned to Dalian after being released from centralized quarantine after entering the country from other places.

On July 7, Sun Ke, director of the Dalian Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Liaoning Province, introduced at a press conference that the virus gene sequencing was the Omicron BA.5 variant strain, which was discovered for the first time in Dalian.

Beijing

Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention and member of the National New Coronavirus Pneumonia Expert Group, said at a Beijing epidemic prevention and control press conference held on July 6 that the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention laboratory sequenced the samples of infected persons 1 to 3 reported on July 5, and the results showed that the viruses all belonged to the BA.5.2 branch of the Omicron variant. Based on the epidemiological investigation and gene sequencing results, it is preliminarily considered that this epidemic is a local cluster caused by imported cases.

Xi'an, Shaanxi

On July 5, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province held a press conference on the prevention and control of the new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic. Ma Chaofeng, deputy director of the Xi'an Center for Disease Control and Prevention, introduced that the epidemiological investigation found that the strains infected in the Xi'an epidemic were all the BA.5.2 branch of the Omicron variant, and the tracing of the source of the epidemic is still in full swing.

Many places have restarted normal nucleic acid testing

Or increase the frequency of testing

On July 8, the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council held a press conference. Mi Feng, spokesperson of the National Health Commission and deputy director of the Publicity Department, introduced that the global epidemic continues to rebound, and China's pressure to prevent imported cases continues to increase. The BA.5 subclade of Omicron is becoming the main global epidemic strain and has caused local clustered epidemics in my country. The prevention and control situation is severe and complicated.

Due to the epidemic situation, after extending or canceling routine nucleic acid testing, many places restarted routine nucleic acid testing in July.

The frequency of nucleic acid testing has been shortened

According to the WeChat public account of "Hangzhou Release", the frequency of routine nucleic acid testing in relevant areas will be adjusted from 7 days to 72 hours from 0:00 on July 11. From 0:00 on July 13, people who do not obtain nucleic acid sampling or testing certificates within 72 hours are not allowed to enter public places in the above areas, and are not allowed to take public transportation in the above areas.

Conduct nucleic acid testing for all staff

The Office of the Shanghai COVID-19 Prevention and Control Leading Group announced on July 11 that from July 12 to July 14, Shanghai has decided to carry out nucleic acid screening for all residents in Huangpu District, Xuhui District, Changning District, Jing'an District, Putuo District, Hongkou District, Yangpu District, Minhang District, Baoshan District, as well as in all streets (towns) in other administrative districts with positive infection tracks.

From late night on July 9 to early morning on July 10, Guangzhou's Yuexiu District, Haizhu District, Liwan District, Tianhe District and Baiyun District successively issued notices to carry out nucleic acid testing for all residents in the district on July 10.

On July 8, the Tianjin Epidemic Prevention and Control Headquarters issued a notice that from 17:00 on July 9, all people living in Tianjin must go to designated locations for nucleic acid testing in an orderly manner, without leaving out a single household or a single person.

On July 3, Hefei City, Anhui Province issued the "Notice on Adjusting and Optimizing Current Epidemic Prevention and Control Measures", deciding to continue the city-wide nucleic acid testing every three days to ensure that all those who need to be tested are tested.

Conduct regional nucleic acid testing

On July 13, Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province held a press conference on the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic. Based on the characteristics of this round of epidemic and the epidemiological trends, and on the basis of the first three rounds, after research and judgment by an expert group, Nanchang City decided to continue regional nucleic acid screening from the 13th to ensure that potential sources of transmission are truly screened out.

On July 11, the Office of the COVID-19 Prevention and Control Command Center of Zhengzhou City, Henan Province announced that it had decided to carry out regional nucleic acid screening from July 12 to 13.

How to prevent and control BA.5?

We must remember the "three-piece set" and "five more"

This type of Omicron variant has a faster transmission speed and improved immune escape ability, but the vaccine can still effectively prevent critical illness caused by BA.5, so we still need to keep in mind the "three-piece set" and "five more".

Yuan Zhengan, a member of the expert group of the Shanghai Municipal Epidemic Prevention and Control Leading Group, said at the Shanghai New Coronavirus Pneumonia Epidemic Prevention and Control Press Conference held on July 10 that research data from home and abroad showed that the Omicron BA.5 variant has a faster transmission rate and improved immune escape ability, but overall, compared with the previously prevalent Omicron BA.2 variant, no significant difference was found in the risk of critical illness and mortality.

Yuan Zhengan introduced that the main way of transmission of the Omicron BA.5 variant is through droplets, so citizens must still keep in mind the "three-piece set of epidemic prevention" (wearing masks, social distance, and personal hygiene) and the "five more protections" (still wearing masks, still keeping social distance, still covering coughs and sneezes, still washing hands frequently, and still opening windows as much as possible). Among them, wearing qualified masks in a standardized manner is still one of the most effective prevention and control measures.

In addition, the results of the study showed that vaccination can still effectively prevent critical illness and death after BA.5 infection.

One picture to understand

Basic Code of Conduct for Citizens to Prevent Epidemics

Comprehensive sources: National Health Commission, Health Times, etc.