A new cluster of six Covid-19 cases is complicating the anti-epidemic fight in Beijing. Unlike the last outbreak in the city, in which every case was linked to a tour group that traveled to Inner Mongolia, the new cases in Beijing are all related to a conference held in the city. Beijing reported six locally transmitted cases and one asymptomatic case on November 11. Most of the patients are employees of PetroChina Co, which is headquartered in the capital. Those employees had been to a company conference in Beijing between October 28 and November 10. One of the 111 participants in the conference was later confirmed to have been infected in Jilin province. Authorities immediately started mass nucleic acid testing of all close contacts of the confirmed patient and related areas. One of the employees lives in a residential community in Haidian district, and her family members – her husband, daughter, mother-in-law and father-in-law – were all infected with the virus. The community was designated as a medium-level risk area for Covid-19. All PetroChina institutions and subsidiaries in Beijing have been placed under a state of emergency in response to the outbreak, and all employees are being tested for the virus for three successive days.
Beijing immediately tightened its entry regulations and required that meetings and public activities be held online. A meeting chaired by Beijing Communist Party Secretary Cai Qi concluded that the anti-epidemic situation in Beijing is grim and complex due to the new cluster infections, which requires all parties to respond immediately and resolutely cut off the transmission chain of the virus. Renowned Chinese epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan has urged booster shots for the public. “Six months after a full dose of either an mRNA or inactivated virus vaccine, antibody levels decline remarkably,” Zhong said.
In Liaoning province, Dalian, one of China's largest port cities for import of cold-chain aquatic products, has been hit hard by a cold-chain related outbreak for the third time due to the large volume of container shipping as well as loopholes in its daily epidemic management system. Nearly 70% of imported cold-chain goods enter China through the Dalian port. About one-third – about 400,000 tons – of China's cold-chain products are stored in Dalian, ranking first in the country. This round of Covid-19 infections has spread locally within companies, families and schools in Dalian. In less than ten days, the port city's tally reached 289, of which 235 were confirmed cases and 54 were asymptomatic ones as of November 13. The cases are mainly concentrated in two food companies and universities. The city suspended the operation of all imported cold-chain food companies on November 8.
China is still determined to continue its dynamic zero-case policy. “We can't abandon zero-tolerance now, as given the global pandemic situation, changing our epidemic prevention policies and lifting strict controls would lead to a catastrophic outcome,” a senior public health expert close to the National Health Commission (NHC) told the Global Times on condition of anonymity. Lifting anti-epidemic measures would mean a sudden increase in infections, which would deliver a heavy blow to the health system and the country's economic and social development, the expert said, noting that as there is a regional imbalance, abandoning the current approach would lead to significant consequences.
Some Chinese epidemiologists believe that it is still not the right time for Western countries like the U.S. to lower border restrictions. Although those countries made their decision based on the speed of vaccination, they failed to take other factors such as winter weather and the Delta variant into account. Wu Liangyou, Deputy Director of the NHC's Disease Control Bureau, said that “we will continue to adhere to strict Covid-19 controls and build a solid barrier against imported cases and local transmissions”. Asked when it would be best to lift the restrictions, the expert answered “not now.” “The regular anti-epidemic measures help us maintain normal social and economic functions, but China has not reached the conditions for lifting those measures or opening its borders,” he added.
Sinopharm plans to start a clinical trial of its new Covid-19 drug in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Zhang Yuntao, Vice President of Sinopharm's subsidiary China National Biotec Group (CNBG), said a human immunoglobulin drug given as an intravenous injection has obtained authorization for clinical trials in China and the UAE. It is the world's first special immunoglobulin product that has obtained official approval for clinical trials. The drug has already been used in recent flare-ups across China and it has proven to have a good therapeutic effect. Another drug based on monoclonal antibodies has shown good neutralizing effects in current experiments and is in the process of obtaining clinical trial approval from the Chinese authorities. Besides CNBG, other Chinese firms are also making steady progress in the research and development (R&D) of Covid-19 treatments.
The UK on November 4 became the first country in the world to approve a Covid-19 antiviral pill jointly developed by U.S.-based Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. Molnupiravir will be sold under the name Lagevrio. It was effective in reducing the risk of hospitalization or death for at-risk non-hospitalized adults with mild to moderate Covid-19 by 50%.
This overview is based on reports by the China Daily, Global Times and Shanghai Daily.
