China News Agency, Beijing, April 14th: Why is it scientific and necessary for China to insist on "dynamic clearing"?

　　Author Cui Bailu

　　At present, the cumulative number of confirmed cases worldwide has exceeded 500 million.

Since March, China has reported over 320,000 local infections due to the mutated strain of Omicron, affecting 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

　　Since the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, countries have different concepts and strategies for epidemic prevention and control.

With the tightness of epidemic prevention and control, there have also been some voices questioning China's "dynamic clearing" in the domestic and foreign public opinion fields.

Faced with different views, why does China continue to insist on "dynamic clearing"?

Data map: Staff are testing nucleic acid test samples.

Photo by Yin Liqin

　　Adhering to "dynamic clearing" is the awe of life.

　　At this stage, the main circulating Omicron variant strain in the world is insidious and highly contagious, and its fatality rate is much higher than that of ordinary influenza. It is a great threat to the life and health of the elderly and people with chronic basic diseases.

Some countries have seen a decline in the virulence of the new strain, and have adopted a passive approach of liberalizing prevention and control and "coexistence", resulting in a rapid increase in the number of infections and deaths.

In the past month, the number of newly confirmed cases in South Korea and the United Kingdom, which have lifted epidemic prevention restrictions, reached 9 million and 2 million respectively, and more than 9,500 and 7,000 people died.

The mutation and repeated infection of the virus also make the so-called "herd immunity" controversial.

"When the government declares 'freedom', people keep dying," said British media personality Tom Foday.

　　Mainland China has a population of 1.4 billion, 267 million elderly people and 260 million chronic patients. If the prevention and control is rashly released with a fluke mentality, there will be a large number of confirmed cases, severe cases and even deaths, which will lead to a run on medical resources or even collapse. The hard-won anti-epidemic achievements will be wasted, and it will also pose a great threat to people's lives and health.

At present, only by trying our best to control the epidemic to the minimum extent can we maximize the safety and health of people and respect and protect each individual's life.

　　Adhering to "dynamic clearing" is respect for science.

　　Epidemic prevention and control has always been a scientific issue.

Strengthening scientific research, judging the situation of the epidemic, and summarizing experience in fighting the epidemic are the prerequisites for fighting the epidemic.

　　The core connotation of "dynamic clearing" is to implement rapid detection and containment after the occurrence of cases or epidemics, cut off the chain of transmission, find and extinguish all together, do not cause continuous community transmission, and do not pursue absolute zero infection, but Control the epidemic with the lowest social cost and the shortest time.

At present, human knowledge of the virus is still limited, and the problems of vaccine effectiveness, mutant strains, severe mortality, sequelae, and special drugs have not been properly resolved, and human beings will not be able to truly defeat the virus.

　　In this context, the Chinese plan of "dynamic clearing" is not created out of nothing, but is explored on the basis of respecting science, obeying laws and extensive practice.

For more than two years, China has continuously improved its prevention and control strategies according to its national conditions and the epidemic situation: from winning the "Wuhan Defense War" with the strength of the whole country, to normalizing epidemic prevention and control, to the current "dynamic clearing" and "social clearing". Zero", and has won dozens of blocking battles, big and small.

During the current round of the epidemic, Guangdong, Hebei, Shandong and other places that were once more serious have actively implemented various prevention and control measures to curb the spread of the epidemic in the short term.

Practice has proved that the epidemic is not invincible, and scientific and accurate "dynamic clearing" is still an effective method and the only way.

　　Adhering to "dynamic clearing" is a balance to the economy and society.

　　Some viewpoints believe that strict prevention and control measures will affect the normal development of the economy, but they do not know that this is putting the cart before the horse.

The epidemic is the root cause of hindering economic development.

Large-scale infections cause people to be unable to work, businesses shut down and social chaos, which in turn affects economic development and triggers social unrest.

　　In the past two years, some countries have relaxed epidemic prevention due to fear of the economic crisis. They have swayed between lockdown and liberalization. The economy and society have suffered repeated shocks, and it has always been difficult for them to resume normal operation.

China once controlled the epidemic in a relatively short period of time and pressed the economic "restart button" to become the only major economy in the world to achieve positive growth in 2020. After the "dynamic reset" of the entire chain of precise prevention and control was launched, the GDP in 2021 will reach 8.1 %growth of.

　　A short break is for a better start.

A period of isolation, shutdown and lockdown will indeed affect the economy and bring inconvenience to life.

However, from a larger time and space perspective, fighting the epidemic as soon as possible can get rid of the out-of-control state as soon as possible, restore a stable and orderly production and life, achieve the maximum prevention and control effect at the least cost, and win the battle against the epidemic.

　　Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said recently: "More than two years of prevention and control practices have proved that 'dynamic clearing' is in line with China's actual situation, and it is the best choice for my country to control the new crown epidemic in a timely manner at this stage."

　　To achieve scientific "dynamic clearing", the words "fast" and "precise" need to be implemented.

Specifically, at the operational level, efficient and orderly nucleic acid testing, scientific and accurate flow control traceability, and classified and graded prevention and control management are essential. It is also crucial to ensure people's livelihood needs in a timely manner and address people's difficulties and concerns.

　　At present, the epidemic situation in Shanghai is still on the rise, and difficulties and problems under the severe situation should not be avoided.

When overcoming difficulties, we should strengthen our confidence, scientifically implement "dynamic clearing", and carry out various tasks strictly and practically, so as to stabilize supply and protect people's livelihood while fighting the epidemic.