COVID: A new sub-variant of Omicron discovered in China

SHANGHAI-

The city of Shanghai has discovered a case of COVID-19 involving a new Omicron BA.5.2.1 subvariant, an official said at a briefing on Sunday, signaling the complications China faces in tracking new mutations as that she continues her « zero-COVID ». Politics.

The case, discovered in Pudong’s financial district on July 8, was linked to a foreign case, said Zhao Dandan, vice director of the city’s health commission.

Shanghai in eastern China emerged from a roughly two-month lockdown in early June, but it has continued to impose tough restrictions, locking down buildings and compounds as soon as potential new chains of transmission emerge. .

« Our city has continued to report more locally transmitted positive cases (of COVID-19) recently, and the risk of the epidemic spreading in society remains very high, » Zhao of the Shanghai health commission warned.

He said residents of several major districts in Shanghai will undergo two rounds of COVID tests, from July 12 to 14, in a bid to bring potential new outbreaks under control.

According to the China Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

The BA.5 variant has been shown to have an accelerated transmission rate and enhanced immune evasion ability, Yuan Zhengan, a member of the city’s expert advisory group on COVID prevention, said during the briefing. sunday.

But vaccination is still effective in preventing BA.5 from causing serious illness or death, he added.