'Dynamic zero-COVID' strategy most suitable and scientific for China: expert
Local ironworkers in northern Baoshan District receive PCR tests on Thursday.
Shanghai must stick to the "dynamic zero-COVID" strategy to protect its aging population and curb the rising number of infections, a leading city expert said on Thursday.
One of the key meanings of "dynamic zero-COVID" is to avoid massive infections among the aging society in a megacity like Shanghai, said Qu Jieming, professor of respiratory and critical care medicine at Shanghai Ruijin Hospital.
The strategy, which Qu said remains the most suitable and scientific coronavirus prevention measure for China, means that a resurgence of the pandemic in a region can be controlled immediately before a scaled transmission occurred. He said it was never meant to wipe out all the infections in a region.
Such a target can be achieved with timely screening, quarantine and treatment to detect infections and cut off transmission as soon as possible, he added.
The virus reproduction rate, known as the "R0" rate, of Omicron BA.2 more than tripled compared with the previous Delta variant, and presented unprecedented challenges for pandemic prevention and control, he noted.
Without the "dynamic zero-COVID" strategy, the highly contagious virus would be freely transmitted across local communities, subdistricts and towns as well as widely spread among citizens.
The number of patients would "spill over" in certain regions with a surging number of infections, Qu said.
Though most of the Omicron infections have resulted in mild symptoms, the strain could still lead to severe and dangerous conditions for people with underlying ailments such as coronary heart disease, cardiac or renal disease, chronic bronchitis and emphysema as well as cancer or low immunity.
All COVID-19 patients in serious conditions are above 60 years old at Ruijin Hospital's northern branch, one of Shanghai's designated hospitals for treating COVID-19. Fifteen percent of them are seniors and there are 53 hemodialysis patients, according to Qu.
Some coronavirus patients showed mild or normal symptoms at the beginning but later developed to become serious and are being treated at intensive care units, he noted.
Furthermore, seniors are the most vulnerable group facing the pandemic as well as those with the lowest vaccination rate, Qu said. Once an epidemic breaks out, the number of patients in serious condition will also surge, draining medical resources and increasing the risk of infections to other patients, he added.
"The 'dynamic zero-COVID' strategy is a necessary and scientific measure to control the number of infections, considering the size of the population, and curb the further spread of the pandemic," Qu said, adding it is also for the benefit of the people and life.
"We will keep applying the strategy to curb the transmissions and achieve a win-win of pandemic control and economic and social development," he added.
