New Covid-19 strain discovered in China

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s publication CCDC Weekly said the case was “the first variant imported (UK) to China and poses a significant potential threat to the prevention and control of COVID- 19 in China ”.

CCDC Weekly said the 23-year-old tested negative for Covid-19 two days before her flight to China. Subsequent sequencing of his positive test revealed that he was different from a small outbreak of cases in Shanghai in November and strains in Wuhan, where Covid-19 was first discovered.

The Covid-19 patient’s case was diagnosed as mild, according to the newspaper, noting that several control measures were taken to isolate the woman and identify those who were sitting near her or caring for her During the flight.

News of the spread of the new strain in China comes a year after disease control authorities in central Wuhan city issued an internal notice warning of the emergence of pneumonia patients, detecting which has was later called Covid-19. While life has now returned to normal across much of China, the country has seen new clusters of the disease while avoiding the strict lockdowns at the start of the year.

Late Wednesday, China’s main regulatory agency approved the massive use of a vaccine produced by a Beijing-based drug development unit of China National Pharmaceutical Group Co., better known as Sinopharm.

In a New Year’s speech on Thursday, President Xi Jinping credited China’s national spirit in responding to the outbreak, which, according to official figures, has recorded nearly 96,000 cases and 4,782 deaths. “We have overcome the impact of the pandemic and made great achievements in the coordination of prevention and control and in economic and social development,” he said.

Reuters first reported the notice on the detection of the British strain in China. The CCDC’s weekly newspaper, written by authors affiliated with China’s leading disease prevention agencies, received poor coverage in China’s major state media.

This week, health officials said the new strain was first detected in the United States in a Colorado man.

The strain was detected in the UK in September and in early December was responsible for more than 60% of new cases in London, scientists said. On December 19, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed new lockdowns on the country, citing its easier transmission, which prompted several other countries to suspend commercial flights to London.

On December 24, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said China was following other countries to suspend flights from the UK.

Write to James T. Areddy at [email protected]