The latest report from China CDC: Since December last year, a total of 12 cases of key mutant strains have been found!

On February 1, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention released the national epidemic situation of novel coronavirus infection.

Infection surveillance data

The results of nucleic acid testing for the new coronavirus are reported nationwide.

After December 8, 2022, the whole country (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, the same below) will no longer conduct nucleic acid screening for all residents, and will implement the policy of testing as many people as possible. At the same time, some regions will conduct regular nucleic acid testing on key populations. All provinces use the existing nucleic acid testing information system to obtain nucleic acid testing data in real time. Affected by the willingness of residents to be tested, the number of nucleic acid tests in various provinces has continued to decrease. For example, the number of tests on December 9 was 150 million, which dropped to 7.54 million on January 1, 2023, and then rebounded to a minimum of 280,000 on January 23, reaching 974,000 on January 30. Since December 9, 2022, the number of positive nucleic acid test results and the positive rate reported by various provinces have shown a trend of first increasing and then decreasing. The number of positive cases reached a peak (6.94 million) on December 22 and then gradually declined, dropping to a minimum of 15,000 on January 23, 2023, and then fluctuated at a low level, reaching 24,000 on January 30. The positive rate reached a peak on December 25 (29.2%) and then fluctuated downward, dropping to 2.5% on January 30 (Figure 1-1).

The results of COVID-19 antigen tests for the nationally reported population.

Since December 2022, some provinces have established an application (APP) for collecting information on antigen testing of residents, and residents can voluntarily upload antigen test results. The results show that the number of antigen tests reported by various provinces is low, showing a gradual downward trend, from a peak of 1.89 million on December 19, 2022 to 105,000 on January 23, 2023, and then rebounded to 132,000 on January 30. The number and positive rate of antigen tests rose rapidly from December 9, 2022, reaching a peak on December 22 (337,000, 21.3%), and then fluctuated downward, reaching a minimum on January 30, 2023, at 2,848 and 2.2%, respectively (Figure 1-2).

Diagnosis and treatment in fever clinics across the country

Overall patient attendance results.

The number of patients visiting fever clinics (examination rooms) nationwide (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) reached a peak of 2.867 million on December 23, 2022, and then declined continuously. After January 23, 2023, the number of patients fluctuated at a low level, reaching 164,000 on January 30, a decrease of 94.3% from the peak (Figure 2-1).

Results of patients visiting rural fever clinics (examination rooms).

The number of patients visiting fever clinics in township health centers across the country reached a peak of 922,000 on December 23, 2022, and then fluctuated downward; after January 23, 2023, it showed a low-level fluctuation, reaching 69,000 on January 30, 2023, a decrease of 92.5% from the peak (Figure 2-2).

Results of the number of patients visiting fever clinics in cities.

The number of patients visiting fever clinics (examination rooms) in medical institutions at or above the second level and urban community health service centers across the country reached a peak of 1.954 million on December 22, 2022, and then declined continuously; it fluctuated at a low level after January 23, reaching 95,000 on January 30, a decrease of 95.1% from the peak (Figure 2-3).

Sentinel hospital surveillance results.

Starting from December 9, 2022, 824 sentinel hospitals (including 546 national sentinel hospitals and 278 provincial sentinel hospitals) and 402 national network laboratories in my country have carried out nucleic acid testing for the new coronavirus. The results showed that from September to early December 2022, the number of influenza-like cases (body temperature ≥38°C, accompanied by cough or sore throat) in sentinel hospitals remained stable at around 100,000 per week, reaching a peak of 600,000 in the 51st week (December 19-25); the ratio of influenza-like cases to the number of outpatient (emergency) visits fluctuated between 2.7% and 3.6%, and rose significantly to 8.5% in the 50th week (December 12-18), reaching a peak of 12.1% in the 51st week, and then rapidly declined from the 52nd week; in the 4th week of 2023 (January 23-29), it had dropped to 2.0%, falling back to the level before this round of epidemic (Figure 2-4).

The network laboratory tested specimens of influenza-like cases for both SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses. From the 49th week of 2022 (December 9), the positivity rate for SARS-CoV-2 began to gradually increase, peaked during weeks 51 and 52, and continued to decline. In the 4th week of 2023 (January 23-January 29), the positivity rate for SARS-CoV-2 had dropped to 8.3%. Since the 49th week of 2022, the positivity rate for influenza virus has gradually decreased, falling to an extremely low level in late December. The positivity rate for influenza is currently maintained below 1.0% (Figures 2-5).

Hospitalization and treatment

Results of patients infected with the new coronavirus in hospital.

The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients nationwide reached a peak of 1.625 million on January 5, 2023, and then continued to decline to 144,000 on January 30, a decrease of 91.1% from the peak (Figure 3-1).

Results for critically ill patients infected with the new coronavirus in the hospital.

Among the patients infected with the new coronavirus in hospitals nationwide, the number of critically ill patients increased by nearly 10,000 per day from December 27, 2022 to January 3, 2023. The increase dropped significantly on January 4, reaching a peak of 128,000 on January 5, and then continued to decline, falling to 14,000 on January 30, a decrease of 89.3% from the peak (Figure 3-2).

Deaths from COVID-19 infection in hospitals.

The number of in-hospital deaths from COVID-19 reached a daily peak of 4,273 on January 4, and then continued to decline, falling to 434 on January 30, a decrease of 89.8% from the peak (Figure 3-3).

Local cases of novel coronavirus infection

Virus mutation monitoring

China continues to monitor the mutation of the novel coronavirus. After December 2022, some sentinel hospitals in each province will be selected to monitor the mutation of outpatient (emergency) cases, severe cases, deaths and some special populations. At the same time, virus mutation monitoring is carried out for people entering the country by land, water and air ports. The monitoring results show that the main strains of this round of epidemic are BA.5.2.48, BF.7.14 and BA.5.2.49, and no new mutants have been found. -Overall situation.

From September 26, 2022 to January 30, 2023, a total of 20,582 valid sequences of the novel coronavirus genomes of local cases were reported nationwide , all of which were Omicron variants. There were 73 evolutionary branches, and the main epidemic strains were BA.5.2.48 (52.1%), BF.7.14 (23.3%) and BA.5.2.49 (16.0%). The proportion of 21 evolutionary branches such as BA.5.2 was between 0.1% and 2.5%, and the proportion of 49 evolutionary branches was less than 0.1% (accounting for 0.6% in total) (Figure 4-1).

Monitoring of virus variants in local cases since December.

From December 1, 2022 to January 30, 2023, a total of 11,878 local cases of novel coronavirus genome sequences were reported nationwide, all of which were Omicron variants, with a total of 26 evolutionary branches. The main epidemic strains were BA.5.2.48 (61.1%) and BF.7.14 (27.8%) (Table 4-1). A total of 12 key variants were found, including 1 XBB.1, 4 BQ.1.1, 1 BQ.1.1.17, 4 BQ.1.2, and 2 BQ.1.8.

The situation of new coronavirus mutations by province.

In general, BF.7 and its sub-branches are dominant strains in Beijing, Tianjin and Inner Mongolia; BF.7 and its sub-branches and BA.5.2 and its sub-branches are basically the same in Jiangsu; BA.5.2 and its sub-branches are dominant strains in other provinces (Figure 4-2).

COVID-19 vaccination progress

After the nationwide large-scale vaccination of the new coronavirus vaccine was launched on December 15, 2020, the vaccination speed has accelerated significantly, with 100 million doses completed in 5 days, and a maximum of 24.74 million doses in a single day. my country has actively and steadily promoted the vaccination work. As of January 30, 2023, 31 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps have completed a total of 3.49 billion doses of the new coronavirus vaccine (Figure 5-1). The first dose and full vaccination coverage rates of the entire population reached 92.9% and 90.6% respectively (Figure 5-2).

Based on the population number of the national special survey on the elderly at the end of 2022, the number of people aged 60 and above covered by the first dose of vaccination accounted for 96.0% of the elderly population, and the number of people who received the full vaccination and the first dose of booster vaccination accounted for 96.6% and 92.2% of the elderly population who met the vaccination time intervals, respectively (Figure 5-3).

Source: China Center for Disease Control and Prevention official website