China confirms first case of British coronavirus variant

China has confirmed its first case of a new variant of the coronavirus that was recently detected in Britain, health officials said.

The new strain, which experts say potentially spreads faster than the original variant, has resulted in travel restrictions to the UK by more than 50 countries – including China, where the coronavirus first appeared at the end of last year.

The first patient in China with the new variant is a 23-year-old woman from Shanghai, who arrived from Britain on December 14, the China Center for Disease Control said in a research note released Wednesday.

She was hospitalized on arrival because she had mild symptoms. Health experts carried out genetic sequencing of her test samples on Dec. 24 “due to travel history from the UK and abnormalities in nucleic acid test results,” the Chinese CDC said.

The patient was discovered to have a different strain than those found in Shanghai or Wuhan earlier, and further testing confirmed that it was the variant known as B.1.1.7 that is spreading in the UK since October.

Health officials have conducted a contact tracing, the CDC statement added.

China indefinitely suspended direct flights to and from Britain on December 24 due to the new tension.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the new variant “could be up to 70% more transmissible than the original version of the disease”.

But there is so far no evidence to suggest that infection with the new variant is more likely to lead to a severe case of Covid-19 or increase the risk of death.

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