Translation
Out of control signal! "All should be tested" for nucleic acid testing. Is the covid prevention and control measures returning? A new round of epidemic spreads across the country—China's epidemic prevention policy reiterates "test everyone who needs to be tested" but the high incidence of influenza raises doubts
Editor: Fang Xun / Source: Radio Free Asia / https://www.aboluowang.com/2025/0123/2164414.html / Image : Respiratory diseases are raging across China. A woman holds a baby as she walks out of a children's hospital in Beijing on January 10, 2025. (Jade Gao/AFP)
Recently, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention issued a notice, proposing specific requirements for the prevention and control of infectious diseases before and after the Chinese New Year, including "all tests should be conducted" for the novel coronavirus nucleic acid test, "all fever clinics should be set up and opened" and other measures. Many patients reported that they had symptoms similar to covid, such as coughing and headaches, and most people wore masks when they went out.
A new round of respiratory diseases is spreading across the country. Patients showed symptoms such as coughing, headaches, diarrhea, and even some patients died. On 17 January 2025, officials from the National Health Commission of China said at a press conference that respiratory infectious diseases such as influenza are in the seasonal epidemic period.
Mr. Xiao, a Wuhan resident, said in an interview with Radio Free Asia on Wednesday (22 January 2025) that many people around him have cold symptoms: "Everyone is catching a cold, a lot of people. Didn't they (the government) say that they would do a good job of preventing covid before and after the Chinese New Year? Isn't this defining it as covid? Doctors will definitely not say it's covid, they will just say that your disease is a cold or influenza A, and you should take a film and get checked."
Mr. Xiao, who has experienced Wuhan pneumonia, believes that if it is a natural influenza virus, it should not be so fierce: "Natural viruses will gradually weaken, weakening every two or three years. How can it become stronger and stronger? It violates the laws of nature."
Official: The novel coronavirus is "at a low level of prevalence"
According to the notice released on the official website of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, China is currently in the winter and spring acute respiratory infectious disease outbreak season. Influenza has entered its peak period, and the spread of other respiratory pathogens such as the novel coronavirus and Mycoplasma pneumoniae is at a low level of prevalence, but it is still prevalent to a certain extent in some areas and specific populations. The increase in population mobility and gathering activities during the Chinese New Year may further increase the risk of epidemic transmission.
The notice particularly emphasizes entry prevention and control, implements temperature monitoring, nucleic acid sampling and genotyping tests for incoming personnel, and requires timely reporting of abnormal situations. In addition, the notice also requires key institutions such as schools and nursing homes to strengthen epidemic prevention and control, and recommends that high-risk groups such as the elderly and children be vaccinated against influenza and new crowns.
Ms. Tang, a resident of Chengdu, said in an interview with this station that the local hospital is already full of influenza patients, and most pedestrians on the street wear masks to prevent infection: "I caught a cold some time ago, it was said to be influenza A, no fever, just coughing, coughing very badly. This cold is a sudden cough, deep cough, headache, diarrhea. There are four people in our place, all caught a cold, all coughing, but I coughed first. At least five or six of the ten people wear masks, more than half."
The return of covid prevention and control measures?
It is worth noting that the notice once again mentioned the "all-inclusive testing" of the novel coronavirus nucleic acid test, as well as the full opening and setting of fever clinics. Since China relaxed its epidemic prevention policy at the end of 2022, official documents have rarely mentioned the new coronavirus directly, and most of them have been replaced by influenza or other diseases. The re-mention of the novel coronavirus nucleic acid test this time is considered a signal to deal with the potential out-of-control of the epidemic.
Ms. Tang, who just arrived in Beijing from Jiangsu, told this station that wherever she went, the sound of coughing came one after another. The doctor said it was influenza, but she thought it was a novel coronavirus variant. Ms. Tang said that almost all the employees in the factory run by her daughter were infected with respiratory diseases: "Wearing masks is more serious in the south, saying it is influenza A, and it is more serious in Jiangsu. This cold is the same as the last outbreak. The symptoms are the same. My daughter runs a garment factory, and the employees all have this symptom, sore throat, severe diarrhea and vomiting, which is the new coronavirus. My daughter has chest pain and dry cough, and the symptoms are the same. A friend in Beijing said yesterday that the cold is very serious now, and it is estimated that this epidemic will not be small."
The recent epidemic situation has caused concern
Recently, a seven-year-old girl in Bazhong City, Sichuan Province, died of influenza A infection. According to family members, more than a dozen children have died suddenly of influenza A in just half a month. Although the authorities have repeatedly stated that the current virus is mainly influenza A and the novel coronavirus is not significantly prevalent, the release of this notice has raised more questions about the actual epidemic situation.
Wuhan citizen journalist Fang Bin said in an interview with this station that he had not heard the official confirmation that the novel coronavirus infection has been widely spread, but a Guangxi netizen once reminded him to pay attention: "There are quite a lot of patients, but I didn't go out to see them, so I have no right to speak. Because I have been at home. I have a Guangxi netizen who told me that he almost died. At that time, he also said that he had a cold. The symptoms were the same as the novel coronavirus. Several of his cousins were infected, and the doctor didn't tell him that it was the novel coronavirus, but he said it should be the novel coronavirus, and he told me so."
Fang Bin said that doctors generally call patients with respiratory infections who come to see a doctor "cold" or "influenza A" and do not mention the novel coronavirus.
As the Chinese New Year approaches, epidemic prevention and control has once again become an important issue for the Chinese government. Although the issuance of this notice is aimed at protecting public health, its similarities with previous strict epidemic prevention policies have sparked widespread public discussion.
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