BEIJING: The Omicron sub-variants currently prevalent in China are becoming more transmissible, but they are much milder than previous strains, with more than 98 percent of those infected showing mild symptoms or being asymptomatic. The mortality rates are much lower than with previous strains. Most young and middle-aged patients are recovering within seven to 10 days after becoming infected. Those who have been inoculated against COVID-19, particularly those who have received booster shots, suffer from less severe symptoms.
In this context, it’s no longer suitable for this category B infectious disease to continue to be treated with prevention and control measures designed to target category A infectious diseases.
The management of infectious diseases is based on their contagiousness and virulence. Diseases with high transmissibility and pathogenicity are classified as category A infectious diseases and are controlled through mandatory quarantine or lockdowns. The plague and cholera fall into this category. Diseases that are highly pathogenic but not highly transmissible such as COVID-19, HIV/AIDS and polio, fall into category B. China’s medical systems as well as infectious disease prevention and control system have withstood the tests of three years of fighting against COVID-19. The country now boasts medical technologies and traditional Chinese medicine that are effective against the virus, and the vaccination rate has hit 90 percent. The public’s sense of well-being is also increasing. Most importantly, the virulence of Omicron sub-variants are weaker than those of previous strains, making it possible to relax prevention and control measures.
–The Daily Mail-Beijing review news exchange item
