Hong Kong's "foreign defense import" strategy finally failed, and the mutant virus Omicron invaded the community and triggered the fifth wave of epidemics.
Since the end of December, different transmission chains have been triggered by several sources in Hong Kong, and there have been sixth and seventh generation cases of infection.
The epidemic has not yet seen a turning point. Can it be as the Chief Executive Carrie Lam said, all epidemic prevention measures, such as banning dine-in in evening markets, etc., will be loosened one by one, and the premises will be reopened. The most important thing is that the source of infection has not been found. Whether the center can finally find the hidden transmission route, or the most worrying community outbreak that has worsened the epidemic to a "merely blooming" depends on whether the "source" can be found.
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At the end of December, Cathay Pacific flight attendants went out in violation of regulations, which led to the outbreak of the Mochizukilou group; the flight attendants who lived with their mothers in home quarantine detonated the dance group, the CITIC Securities group, the birthday party scandal of senior officials, etc. In the past few days, the suspected world's first case has been reported again. The case of a hamster infected with a salesperson in a pet store, and the lack of ventilation in the quarantine room of Silka Seaview Hotel broke out the cross-infection and the group of patients entering the community. case.
It is worth noting that the epidemic situation in Hong Kong has not yet been "improving". Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has indicated that the epidemic prevention measures that were tightened at the beginning of the month will be relaxed from the fourth day of the lunar new year, including the first lifting of the ban on dine-in in the evening market, and the "vaccine bubble" as the basis for re-emphasis. Open premises ordered to be closed.
However, due to cross-infection in the quarantine hotel and the "leakage" of the Pakistani woman with the virus latent into the community, the transmission chain caused by the virus seems to be very powerful. The woman alone has "passed nine".
▼On January 18, the enclosure inspection of Jiasheng Court, Block A, Jialong Court, Aberdeen▼
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In addition, there are hamsters with the Delta virus, which is no longer a global pandemic, and it is even more bizarre to be suspected of infecting the salesperson, because the entrance examination should have passed the inspection checkpoint of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department. Mass culling is unprecedented.
One of the government's anti-epidemic experts, Professor Yuan Guoyong of the Department of Microbiology of the University of Hong Kong, stated clearly that as long as there will not continue to be no source infection cases in Hong Kong, all cases can eventually be found to cut off the chain of transmission. If unidentified cases continue to be found, the community will definitely There is a big outbreak, and it is impossible to cut off the epidemic before the Lunar New Year.
In light of the case information currently announced by the Government, there are a few cases that deserve special attention.
The first is a 58-year-old supermarket tally clerk. The source of the infection has not yet been found, but the virus gene is exactly the same as that of the flight attendant's mother. It must belong to the same group, but the source may not be found. If the patient and the route of transmission have not been identified, it may become an "invisible bomb".
On January 18, the third phase of Meifu Xincun closed area inspection
The second is the "hamster group" discovered in the past two days. Since the first infected salesperson was suspected of being infected by imported hamsters, and the Tai Po warehouse where the hamsters were kept, many samples were indeed tested positive, which makes people feel I am worried that even if the imported animals are checked by the AFCD, there will still be "rats that slip through the net".
On the other hand, even if the entire genome of the virus is sequenced for hamsters and infected patients, it may only prove that the two are homologous in the end, and may not be able to prove who is the source. Work made it worse.
▼A 26-year-old woman who was initially diagnosed and whose source was unknown was working in the Kindergarten of North Point Academy▼
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Third, it is the latest case of no source, involving a kindergarten teacher living in Mei Foo Sun Village. The authorities need to try to find out the possible transmission route through the virus whole genome sequencing or itinerary tracking. Once it becomes an unknown source again, it means the community There are already several invisible chains of transmission, which can cause outbreaks in the community at any time, which is what Professor Yuan calls "everyday there are cases with unknown origins." That is, the epidemic seems to be out of control.