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Written by: Zheng Cuibi, Li Enci, McKayin
2021-04-02 23:17
Last update date: 2021-04-02 23:18
The new crown epidemic has not stopped. Recently, Hong Kong has added many imported cases, and many of them have mutated viruses.
In the past month, 62 imported cases came from the Philippines, which is the region where the most patients have been imported to Hong Kong. The Centre for Health Protection today (2nd) also bluntly stated that more cases of variant viruses are from the Philippines.
Searching the data revealed that there are currently 4 variants of viruses in the Philippines, one of which is named "P3", which has both the N501Y mutation and the E484K mutation, but its characteristics have not yet been determined.
Some experts believe that the epidemic situation in Indonesia and the Philippines continues to worsen. Not only has there been a large number of confirmed cases, but also many people have been infected with the variant virus. They have urged the Hong Kong government to consider tightening restrictions on entry to Hong Kong from the local area and minimize the number of foreign domestic helpers in the two places. Entry and exit, until the local epidemic slows down, or a certain number of people have been vaccinated.
The local epidemic situation in the Philippines is still serious, with 4 variant viruses appearing.
(AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
The Philippine virus is now a highly contagious variant virus "P3" that contains the characteristics of the other two viruses
According to Al Jazeera’s report, the Philippines has 3 variants of viruses, namely the British variant, the South African variant and the Brazilian variant.
According to a report by the British "Independent", a variant virus named "P3" appeared in the Philippines in mid-March. This virus has both N501Y mutation and E484K mutation. At that time, there were 98 cases of P3 in the Philippines. .
Xu Shuchang, chair professor of the Department of Respiratory System at Chinese University, said that it is believed that P3 is different from the variant viruses in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil, so it will be named separately. However, due to insufficient data, it is impossible to determine the actual difference and the characteristics of the virus. Zhongyou's gene mutation is not clear." However, because P3 has N501Y and E484K mutations, it is expected that its transmission power will be stronger than that of the general new coronavirus, and people who have recovered are more susceptible to infection. "If it is not infected with the mutant virus. Without the protection of antibodies in his body, his risk of re-infection will increase.”
In the past month, 62 imported cases came from the Philippines, which is the region that imported the most patients to Hong Kong.
(Data Picture/Photo by Gao Zhongming)
Fubitai effectively copes with variant viruses as soon as there is no relevant data
Xu Shuchang said that variant viruses with E484K mutations will affect the effectiveness of the vaccine. For example, the AstraZeneca vaccine has an effective rate of only 10% against the South African variant new coronavirus; the effective rate of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is 66% against the general virus, and it is less effective against the South African variant virus. Only 57%; the effective rate of Novavax vaccine has dropped from 89% to 49.4%.
However, the temporary mRNA vaccine is effective against the E484K mutant virus, that is, BioNTech's Fubitai vaccine has no major problems, while Kexing vaccine has no data.
According to Liang Zichao, a respiratory specialist, the epidemic situation in Indonesia and the Philippines has continued to worsen. Not only have there been more confirmed cases, but many people have also been infected with the variant virus.
Since most of the cases imported from the Philippines are foreign domestic helpers, he suggested that the Hong Kong government consider tightening the entry restrictions for foreign domestic helpers and contact the industry to adjust the holiday arrangements for foreign domestic helpers to come to Hong Kong and return home to minimize Entry and exit between the two places until the local epidemic slows down, or a certain number of people have been vaccinated.
Xu Shuchang, chair professor of the Department of Respiratory System at CUHK, said that the mutant virus "P3" has a stronger transmission power.
(Profile picture)
Liang Zichao promotes encryption of airport and hotel work inspections
In terms of local epidemic prevention, Liang Zichao recommends that staff working in airports and hotels undergo “one-seven-day inspection”, especially those who are known to have been in contact with imported cases should be more careful to prevent the mutant virus from entering the community. Something (a local case infected with a variant virus) will definitely not happen afterwards. This theory is wrong."
Liang Zichao continued that there will be more and more virus variants in the world over time. At present, Hong Kong is targeting only a small part of the spike protein (S protein) for virus gene sequencing for N501Y variants and E484K variants, worrying about "leakage." For mutations in other locations, it is believed that the authorities should at least inspect the entire S protein for mutations.
In addition, he pointed out that patients infected with the mutant virus are highly infectious, and worried that individual survivors have a CT value higher than 30 and have antibodies, but they are still infectious after being discharged. He suggested that the authorities tighten the discharge guidelines for people infected with the mutant virus.
Liang Zichao suggested that staff working in airports and hotels undergo "one inspection on seven days."
(Profile picture)
The chairman of the Hong Kong Domestic Helper Employers’ Association Yung Ma Shan-yeh said that he supports the government’s tightening of immigration arrangements for foreign domestic helpers. “It is obvious that there are problems with the 72-hour test, which proves that the test is unreliable.” Because most foreign domestic helpers have to take care of babies or The elderly will pose risks to them.
She also pointed out that since the outbreak of the epidemic in the Philippines, many employers have turned to foreign domestic helpers. The intermediary company estimates that there are about 6,000 local domestic helpers available for employment.
▼From April 1st, arrangements for epidemic prevention measures and discussions on travel bubbles ▼
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