Objective To assess the risk of public health emergencies that may occur or be imported from abroad in China (except Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions and Taiwan province, the same below) in May 2023.
Methods Based on various data and departmental notification information on domestic and foreign public health emergencies reports and surveillance of key infectious diseases, the expert consultation method was used and experts from provincial (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government) centers for disease prevention and control were invited to participate in the assessment by video conference.
Results It is predicted that the incidence of public health emergencies in May 2023 would be higher than that in April 2023. The main public health emergencies would be infectious diseases such as COVID-19, varicella, norovirus enteritis and hand, foot and mouth disease. The incidence of SARS-COV-2 infection in China reached the lowest level since November 2022 in early April 2023, and the epidemic began to rise in mid-to-late April. XBB virus has become the main circulating strain of SARS-COV-2 infection in China. It is predicted that the incidence of reinfections will increase gradually in May 2023, but the possibility of an outbreak of scale with a medical and social impact is less. At present, the overall epidemic of hand, foot and mouth disease in China is in the early stage of rapid rise, and it is predicted that the epidemic will rise in May. According to the previous trend, the high incidence of food poisoning began in May.
Conclusion Special attention is given to COVID-19, and general attention is given to food poisoning and hand, foot and mouth disease.