At the press conference of the State Council Information Office today (January 16), the relevant person in charge of the National Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention said that due to the sharp increase in personnel mobility during the Spring Festival, it is expected that the COVID-19 may rise to a certain extent around the Spring Festival, and that many parts of the country will continue to show the trend of alternating or common epidemics of various respiratory diseases. The National Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention will take multiple measures to prepare medical resources and epidemic prevention in advance.

Lei Zhenglong, Director of the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Department of the National Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention, stated that the current influenza epidemic in China is fluctuating at a high level. The COVID-19 is at a low level, and the epidemic strains are still dominated by XBB and its sub branches, but the JN. 1 mutant strains are gradually rising. It is expected that the COVID-19 may recover to some extent before and after the Spring Festival due to the influence of multiple factors such as the mass flow of people and the increase of dinner gathering activities around the Spring Festival holiday, and that multiple respiratory diseases will continue to alternate or co epidemic in many parts of the country.

During the Spring Festival travel rush, China will strengthen its efforts in epidemic prevention and control at ports. Pay close attention to the epidemic situation of international COVID-19 and other key infectious diseases, strengthen the research, judgment, prediction and early warning of imported infectious disease risks, strengthen the nucleic acid sampling and epidemiological investigation of entry personnel found abnormal in health declaration and quarantine, and strictly control the entry port. Based on multi-channel monitoring results, dynamically grasp the epidemic trends, virus mutations, and the use of medical resources. If abnormal situations are found, timely warnings should be given, and medical resources and epidemic prevention materials should be prepared in advance. And continue to do a good job in health services and management for the elderly, patients with chronic basic diseases and other key groups, promote vaccination work such as COVID-19 vaccine, influenza vaccine, etc. Elderly care institutions and social welfare institutions should do a good job in daily health monitoring, personal protection, treatment and referral, visiting management of foreign personnel, etc., reduce the risk of introduction and transmission of the epidemic, and effectively prevent the occurrence of a cluster epidemic.

In addition, the National Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention will reasonably allocate medical resources during the Spring Festival holiday, enrich the medical strength of key departments such as outpatient and emergency departments, pediatrics, respiration, and critical care in medical institutions, increase the market placement and reserve of commonly used drugs such as colds, fever reduction, and cough relief, and meet the normal medical and medication needs of the public during the holiday period.