On December 5, the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council invited Tong Chaohui, a respiratory critical disease expert, the vice president of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University, and the director of Beijing Institute of Respiratory Diseases, to be interviewed by the media. Tong Zhaohui told reporters that compared with the original strain at the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic, the current strain of Omikron is more mild. Clinical observation found that the pathogenicity of Omicron was significantly weakened, and the proportion of serious diseases such as pneumonia, hospitalization rate and case fatality rate were lower than that of influenza. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, from the original strain to the Omicron strain, the virus has been constantly changing, and the infectivity and pathogenicity are also changing. "As clinicians, we are not only treating patients, but also observing and summarizing the characteristics of patients after virus mutation." Tong Chaohui said that according to clinical observation, the original virus strains at the beginning of the epidemic affected the lungs. "Judging from the recent clinical manifestations of people infected with Omicron, Omicron is more infectious, but the symptoms are mainly above the respiratory tract, not high fever, but low to moderate fever, throat discomfort, cough, and so on. In addition, 80% and 90% of people infected with Omicron are asymptomatic, plus the mild type, accounting for more than 90%. There are not many ordinary types, and less serious." Tong Zhaohui said that patients currently receiving treatment in COVID-19 designated hospitals, Most of them are not treated because of COVID-19, but because of their basic diseases. "The treatment is mainly to take antiviral drugs, and the focus is on their basic diseases". Tong Chaohui stressed that after the constant variation of COVID-19, it has become mild, and the probability of pneumonia and aggravation of the disease has significantly decreased. "From a clinical point of view, the proportion of severe diseases such as pneumonia, hospitalization rate and case fatality rate caused by Omicron are lower than those caused by influenza." (Outlook New Times)