The Weekly Report of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (English) reported on May 16 the details of the first imported case in my country confirmed to be infected with the new coronavirus “Omicron” subtype strain “BA.2.12.1” Condition.
On April 23, 2022, an international flight KQ880 departing from Nairobi, Kenya, arrived at Baiyun International, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province Airport. All passengers were transferred to quarantine hotels for 14 days of routine medical observation and routine nucleic acid testing.
One of the patients, a 27-year-old Chinese male, was reported to be positive for novel coronavirus nucleic acid on April 27, 2022. The patient has a complete Covid-19 vaccination history and no exposure to other Covid-19 cases in the past 14 days. After the diagnosis, he was transferred to the Eighth People’s Hospital of Guangzhou for treatment.
On April 30, 2022, the patient’s nasal swab samples were sequenced using the Illumina MiniSeq platform, and the genotyping results showed that the patient was infected with the Omicron subtype strain BA.2.12.1. A total of 33 amino acid mutation sites were detected in the spike gene. Among them, L452Q and S704L are the key loci of BA.2.12.1 sub-lineage. The sequence has been submitted to the National Genome Data Center.
On May 4, 2022, the World Health Organization reminded close monitoring of subtype BA.2.12.1. The BA.2.12.1 subtype has a stronger immune evasion ability than other Omicron subtype strains, and some studies have shown that BA.2.12.1 spreads 23% to 27% faster than BA.2. The subvariant spread very rapidly, causing a resurgence of the epidemic in many parts of the United States, with cases reported in at least 17 countries.
The latest reminder of Shandong CDC
Recently, local confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia and asymptomatic infections have appeared in many places in China, and the prevention and control situation is severe and complicated. In order to effectively control and reduce the risk of the spread of the new crown epidemic, the Shandong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention issued a public health reminder for epidemic prevention and control on May 16:
1. Negative nucleic acid test certificate; nucleic acid test will be conducted on the 1st and 3rd day after arrival.
2. Strictly restrict the entry and return of people from the counties (cities, districts) in high-risk areas to Shandong, and conduct 7-day centralized isolation and 7-day quarantine for people leaving from counties (cities, districts) in high-risk areas Home health monitoring.
3. Persons from the counties (cities, districts) where the medium-risk areas are located are not necessary to enter Shandong and return to Shandong, and those who do need to enter and return to Shandong shall undergo home health monitoring for 7 days after arrival.
Fourth, for other epidemic risk areas that have not yet announced medium and high risk areas but have recently had a large number of newly infected people and have the risk of community transmission, refer to the county (city, district) where the medium and high risk areas are located.
V. Personnel in high-risk positions such as service guarantee personnel, isolation places, designated hospitals, fever clinics, and cold chain-related enterprises who have direct contact with inbound personnel or goods in airports and port areas should avoid travel as much as possible. Those who travel must be away from work for more than 14 days and hold a negative nucleic acid test certificate within 48 hours, and report to the destination community (village) 3 days in advance. After returning home, it is not necessary to go out or gather.
6. For those who have recently traveled abroad, please pay close attention to the information on cases and asymptomatic infection trajectories and information on medium- and high-risk areas announced in the epidemic area. Persons at risk of epidemic should immediately report to the community (village), accommodation hotel and unit, and cooperate with the implementation of isolation medical observation.
7. Strictly limit travel to medium- and high-risk areas and the counties (cities, districts) where they are located, and do not travel to other counties (cities, districts) in the cities where the medium- and high-risk areas are located unless necessary; Health code “yellow code” and other personnel must fulfill their personal protection responsibilities, actively cooperate with health monitoring and nucleic acid testing, and do not travel until the risk of infection has been ruled out.
8. It is recommended to check the latest epidemic prevention and control policies of the destination through the Chinese government website and the client applet of the State Council in advance before travel, actively cooperate with local epidemic prevention and control measures, and take personal protection on the way.
9. Strictly implement personal protective measures such as “wearing a mask, washing hands frequently, taking temperature regularly, and avoiding gatherings”, and develop good personal hygiene habits. Once symptoms such as fever, cough, and fatigue appear, go to the fever clinic of a medical institution immediately, and try to avoid taking public transportation.
It is recommended that eligible members of the public be vaccinated against the new coronavirus throughout the course, and booster immunization is recommended for those who have completed the full course of immunization for 6 months.