Risk assessment of public health emergencies concerned in the mainland of China, April 2022

  Objective  To assess the risk of public health emergencies, both the indigenous ones and the imported ones, which might occur in the mainland of China in April 2022.

  Methods  An internet based expert counsel was conducted to analyze the surveillance data of public health emergencies and priority communicable diseases in China reported through different channels, and the experts in all provincial centers for disease control and prevention attended this video conference.

  Results  It is expected that number of domestically reported public health emergency events other than COVID-19 in April would remain unchanged from March. The risk of domestic COVID-19 outbreaks caused by the indigenous transmission and the foreign importation is high, making it more difficult to prevent and control the epidemic. Local governments need to strengthen epidemic prevention and control in accordance with national requirements and hold the bottom line of no large-scale rebound of the epidemic. The number of pertussis cases will maintain rising trend due to the improvement of laboratory testing technology, the weakening of vaccine protection and the strengthening of surveillance in some districts.

  Conclusion  Special attention should be paid to COVID-19. General attentions should be paid to pertussis.