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China has reported the first known case of the most contagious strain of COVID-19 that originally began circulating in the UK, although the patient has been in quarantine since arriving in Shanghai two weeks ago.
Researchers from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said in a weekly report on Wednesday that the new variant of the novel coronavirus was detected in a 23-year-old student who flew to Shanghai from the United Kingdom on December 14.
The patient was taken to a quarantine facility immediately after she got off the plane, a measure that China has imposed on all incoming international passengers, regardless of their COVID-19 status during the pandemic.
The woman, diagnosed as a mild case as of Wednesday, has not left the city, according to the report.
On December 24, lab work confirmed that the strain of coronavirus contracted by the student was the new variant, known as B.1.1.7. The new strain carries genetic mutations that could make the virus 70% more contagious than other known strains.
The outbreak of B.1.1.7 forced the UK government to impose stricter lockdown measures on London and other cities in south-east England before Christmas Day, and several countries responded by banning travel from the UK. Despite these measures, more than a dozen countries have reported since. patients infected by the new variant.
So far, there is no evidence that the new variant of COVID-19 causes more severe symptoms or that it can evade current vaccines.
The patient in China tested negative for the virus two days before her departure from the UK, according to the report. She told health officials that she was not sure how she had become infected, but noted that she had recently gone for a run without wearing a mask and had also removed her mask to eat and drink while waiting to board her flight from the UK.
According to the report, the Shanghai authorities have taken various control measures, including tracing and disinfecting contacts. So far, authorities have not reported other related cases.
Publisher: Dominic Morgan.
(Header image: Passengers wait at St. Pancras International Airport, London, December 23, 2020. Hannah McKay / Reuters via Xinhua)
