Health tips for the National Day holiday 2022

This is a reminder from the China CDC that people should continue to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19 during this year’s National Day holiday, and take adequate prevention measures against such diseases as norovirus enteritis, food poisoning and monkeypox.

We wish you a relaxing and happy holiday!

COVID-19 prevention
During the National Day holiday, we still face the risk of imported and local transmission of COVID-19.

The novel coronavirus is mainly transmitted through respiratory droplets and close contact. It is also transmitted through aerosols in a closed environment. Contact with items contaminated by the virus can also cause infection.

The main symptoms include: fever, chills, cough, fatigue, myalgia, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat, loss of smell and taste, conjunctivitis and diarrhea.

Prevention:
Reduce unnecessary travel and gatherings, especially for the elderly, patients with underlying health conditions, and pregnant women.

Maintain good ventilation in residential areas.

Follow the requirements of COVID-19 prevention and control at travel destinations. Prepare disinfectant and hand sanitizers. When going out, you should wear a mask, follow social distancing rules, wash hands frequently and avoid crowded places. If any suspected symptoms of COVID-19 appear during trip, you should seek medical help immediately and abort your trip.

After returning from your trip, you should monitor your health conditions. In the case of suspected symptoms of COVID-19, seek medical treatment, wear adequate protection and report your trip to the doctor.

Norovirus enteritis prevention

Norovirus enteritis can occur year round, with a high incidence in winter and spring in China. Outbreaks mostly occur in places of gathering, such as schools, kindergartens, hospitals, nursing homes and cruise ships.

Norovirus spreads quickly in different ways. You can contract norovirus by coming in direct contact of an infected person, consuming contaminated food or water and touching contaminated surfaces and then putting your unwashed hands in your mouth.

The most common symptoms of norovirus are diarrhea and vomiting. Other symptoms include nausea, stomachache, fever, headache and body aches. Most people infected with norovirus recover within two to three days.

Prevention:
1. Maintain hand hygiene. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water, especially after using the toilet, before eating, preparing or handling food, and after taking care of patients.

2. Pay attention to food and water safety. Eat cooked food, wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly, and make sure oysters and other seafood are well cooked before eating. When dining out, you should choose restaurants with good sanitary conditions.

3. When you are sick, you need to quarantine yourself. People infected with norovirus should quarantine at home for three days after recovery. Try not to have close contact with other family members, and do not prepare or process food, or take care of the elderly or infants.

4. Clean and disinfect surfaces. Surfaces contaminated by vomit or feces of infected patients should be cleaned and disinfected with chlorine or other disinfectants immediately, and contaminated clothes or bed sheets should be removed and cleaned immediately. Put on rubber or disposable gloves during cleaning, and wash hands afterwards.

Food poisoning prevention

There is usually a high incidence of food poisoning from May to October. Food poisoning usually manifests acutely a short time after eating, with symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, stomachache and diarrhea.

Prevention:
Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water, especially after using the toilet, before eating, preparing or handling food, touching pets or handling garbage.

Wash tableware with flowing water and dry them. Disinfect the kitchen environment.

Raw and cooked food should be separated. Kitchenware used for processing food and containers should also be separated. Choose fresh fruit and vegetables, and grains, beans and peanuts with mildew should not be consumed.

Store food at the recommended temperature. Cooked food should not be stored at room temperature for more than two hours. Leftover food that cannot be finished in one meal should be refrigerated or frozen.

When dining out, you should choose a regular restaurant with good sanitary conditions. Maintain good table manners; try to separate meals, and use serving chopsticks and spoons to reduce the risk of infection. Do not eat unknown fungi or wild plants.

Monkeypox prevention
Monkeypox is an animal borne disease caused by monkeypox virus infection, which was mainly found in tropical rainforested areas in Central Africa and West Africa prior to 2022. Since May 2022, monkeypox cases have been reported in countries and regions outside of Africa, mainly in Europe and the Americas. At present, monkeypox outbreaks have also occurred in many countries in Asia, including China, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines and India.

The incubation period can be between five and 21 days.
The symptoms of the disease are rash, fever and swollen lymph nodes. Children, pregnant women and those with a weakened immune system risk more severe symptoms or even death.

Monkeypox is mainly spread through respiratory secretions, pathological exudates, blood and other bodily fluids of infected animals, or being bitten or scratched by an infected animal. Transmission between people is mainly through close contact. Items contaminated by infected cases may also lead to infection. In addition, it can be transmitted through droplets when in close contact for a long time, and can be transmitted from pregnant women to a fetus through the placenta. As most people in China (especially those born after 1981) have not been vaccinated against smallpox, they lack immunity against the orthopoxvirus (including monkeypox virus), and are susceptible to monkeypox.

Prevention:
Avoid close skin contact with people who have a monkeypox-like rash.
Avoid contact with articles used by monkeypox patients.
Wash your hands frequently.