Xinhua All Media+Covid-19’s continuous mutation and epidemic prevention ＂lying flat＂ is not desirable

　　Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, October 14th (Reporter Gu Tiancheng, Li Heng) Recently, Covid-19 Omicron mutant strain BF.7 was first detected in mainland China. Experts from the National Health and Wellness Commission and the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that virus mutation is a common natural law. In the case of continuous mutation in Covid-19, only by adhering to the existing prevention and control strategies and the general policy of "dynamic zero clearing" can we keep the bottom line of no large-scale epidemic.

　　At present, the global epidemic situation is still at a high level, and there are many local clustering epidemics in China. On October 1st, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, notified the local epidemic that the infected virus was Omicron BF.7 sub-branch. At present, the proportion of this subfamily in the world has increased from about 3.5% in late September to about 11% last week. It remains to be seen whether it will become the global dominant strain in the next stage.

　　On March 22, 2022, an old man was vaccinated at COVID-19 Vaccination Point in Princess Palace Park, Hohhot. Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Lei photo

　　Dong Xiaoping, chief virologist of China CDC, said that the research found that the mutation rate of Covid-19 has obviously accelerated since the emergence of Omicron strain. Omicron BF.7 subfamily is essentially an evolutionary branch of Omicron BA.5 mutant, and this evolutionary branch has no obvious change in pathogenicity, showing strong transmission ability.

　　"Overall, China’s epidemic prevention and control has achieved phased results and seen the dawn of victory, but it has not yet reached the other side of victory. We must continue to work hard to do the corresponding prevention and control work." Liang Wannian, head of the expert group of the leading group for epidemic response and disposal of the National Health and Wellness Commission, said that it is not advisable for Covid-19 to "lie flat" in epidemic prevention, and it is very important to adhere to the general policy of "dynamic zero clearing" and strictly implement the ninth edition of the prevention and control plan.

　　China has a large population, a high proportion of elderly people, and a large number of patients with basic diseases, who are high-risk groups of COVID-19 virus infection. Liang Wannian said that it is still crucial to continue to promote COVID-19 vaccination for key population, especially for the elderly.

　　Dong Xiaoping said that after several months of practice, it has been proved that the current ninth edition of the prevention and control plan can still meet the needs of epidemic prevention and control in COVID-19, China, without obvious changes in the pathogenicity of the virus and obvious decline in the protection effectiveness of existing vaccines.