National Health Commission: the recent epidemic situation was imported from abroad, and community transmission had occurred when it was found

From the recent disposal of the epidemic, we can see that there are some outstanding problems that need to be paid great attention to: the normalization of prevention and control in public places has been lax, and temperature monitoring, health code verification and many other things are mere formality; The command system's transition from normalization to emergency is not fast enough, the emergency disposal process is not clear enough, and the information flow is not smooth; Rural medical and health infrastructure is poor, technical force is insufficient, and early detection ability is insufficient.

On January 14, the national teleconference on epidemic prevention and control was held in Beijing. Comrade Ma Xiaowei, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Director of the National Health Commission, on behalf of the Comprehensive Group of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council, briefed the meeting on the recent national epidemic situation.

The report pointed out that since December 2020, Beijing, Sichuan, Liaoning, Hebei, Heilongjiang and other places have successively suffered from an epidemic cluster. It mainly has the following characteristics. First, they are all imported from abroad. All of them were caused by overseas entry personnel or contaminated cold chain imports. The important reasons were the non-standard management of isolation sites and inadequate protection of workers exposed to imported cold chain goods. Second, it affected rural areas. The epidemic situation in Shijiazhuang, Hebei, Suihua, Heilongjiang, Chengdu, Sichuan and other places all occurred in rural areas or the urban-rural fringe. Third, the number of infected people increased rapidly. In a relatively short period of time, it shows a trend of rapid growth. Fourth, the scope of diffusion is wide. People gathering and moving, wedding banquet, assembly and other activities have intensified the spread of the epidemic, showing an outward spread trend. Fifth, the difficulty of disposal has increased. There are multiple transmission chains in the same province or city, and community transmission has occurred when the epidemic is found, which makes it difficult to prevent and control the epidemic.

The report pointed out that, judging from the recent disposal of the cluster epidemic, some outstanding problems that need to be paid close attention to have been exposed. First, the normalization prevention and control of public places has been relaxed. Cadres and masses' awareness of epidemic prevention and control has been weakened, prevention and control measures in public places have been relaxed, and prevention and control requirements for large-scale gatherings have not been implemented. Temperature monitoring, health code checking and many others are mere formality. Second, the epidemic emergency command system cannot play its role in a timely and efficient manner. The command system's transition from normalization to emergency state was not fast enough, the emergency disposal process was not clear enough, and the information flow was not smooth, which affected the speed and strength of epidemic situation disposal. Third, the preparedness for emergency response to epidemic situation is not in place. The preparation of nucleic acid detection, flow regulation and traceability, material reserve, designated hospitals, isolation sites, etc. is insufficient, and the training of management and technical personnel is not in place, failing to achieve the goal of "preparing rather than using". Fourth, the rural epidemic prevention and control force is weak. Rural medical and health infrastructure is poor, technical force is insufficient, and early detection ability is insufficient. The system and mechanism for provinces, cities and counties to coordinate the response to outbreaks in rural areas need to be improved.

The report stressed that the current epidemic situation in China is still severe and complex, and the prevention and control of the epidemic is facing a major test. We must resolutely implement the five key measures to deal with the COVID-19 cluster epidemic, and focus on the following work. The first is to improve the command system of timely conversion from normalization to emergency. The emergency command system should be activated in time to ensure that all work is carried out under the unified command of the party committee and government, and all prevention and control measures are promoted under the unified scheduling of the party committee and government. The second is to make practical preparations for emergency response. All departments of the joint prevention and control mechanism cooperate with each other, strengthen training and drills, and ensure that cadres at all levels understand what to do and how to do it. Third, improve the scientific and accurate emergency response. Timely, scientifically and accurately delineate and adjust middle and high risk areas, implement community and personnel control, nucleic acid testing and other measures in different areas and levels, and prevent the simplification and one size fits all of the epidemic response measures. Fourth, we will strengthen epidemic prevention and control in rural areas. Adhere to the integrated deployment and promotion of epidemic prevention and control in rural and urban areas. We should attach great importance to the prevention and control of rural epidemics during the Spring Festival, do a good job of nucleic acid detection 7 days before the return of key populations, improve the ability to detect early, prepare for early isolation and treatment, do a good job in grid management after returning home, and organize and carry out home health monitoring. Strengthen the publicity of health education prevention and control knowledge, and strengthen the control of clustered activities. All emergency plans and capabilities should be prepared in advance, and once an epidemic situation is found, it should be resolutely and decisively handled.