Hebei Province was affected by two coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak waves during the period 22 January 2020 through 27 February 2020 (wave 1) and 2 January 2021 through 14 February 2021 (wave 2). To evaluate and compare the epidemiological characteristics, containment delay, cluster events and social activity, as well as non-pharmaceutical interventions of the two COVID-19 outbreak waves, we examined real-time update information on all COVID-19-confirmed cases from a publicly available database. Wave 1 was closely linked with the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan, whereas wave 2 was triggered, to a certain extent, by the increasing social activities such as weddings, multi-household gatherings and church events during the slack agricultural period. In wave 2, the epidemic spread undetected in the rural areas, and people living in the rural areas had a higher incidence rate than those living in the urban areas (5.3 vs. 22.0 per 1 000 000). Furthermore, Rt was greater than 1 in the early stage of the two outbreak waves, and decreased substantially after massive non-pharmaceutical interventions were implemented. In China’s ‘new-normal’ situation, development of targeted and effective intervention remains key for COVID-19 control in consideration of the potential threat of new coronavirus strains.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, Hebei Province, two outbreak waves, 【초록키워드】 coronavirus disease, Coronavirus disease 2019, coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic, Intervention, database, activity, Spread, China, Characteristics, COVID-19 outbreak, outbreak, Wuhan, incidence rate, Cluster, epidemiological, information, Strains, early stage, New coronavirus, rural areas, urban areas, Wave, effective intervention, event, the epidemic, greater, affected, evaluate, examined, triggered, 【제목키워드】 China, Characteristics, COVID-19 outbreak, response,