A study released this Wednesday by the scientific journal The Lancet confirms that no new variants of the coronavirus causing Covid-19 have been detected in China during the late 2022 outbreak.
According to the study, which confirms the conclusions of the World Health Organization (WHO), subvariants BA.5.2 and BF.7 of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 dominated between November 14 and December 20 in the Chinese capital Beijing. , 2022, collectively contributing to more than 90% of local infections.
On Jan. 4, WHO had indicated that the same subvariants, circulating in other countries, also collectively contributed to more than 90% of infections contracted in China, genetic data collected as of Dec. 1.
China, where SARS-CoV-2 was detected in late 2019, ended December 7 with a Covid-19 control policy that included confinement, mass testing and quarantines.
Due to the relaxation of measures, added to the lack of effectiveness of Chinese vaccines and a low number of vaccinated populations, infections and deaths in China increased at a rapid rate in late 2022, leading several countries, including Portugal, to impose restrictions on travelers from China , such as testing and wearing a face mask.
This is the conclusion of a study published on Wednesday in the British journal The Lancet. however, subvariants BA.5.2 and BF.7 were already circulating significantly in Beijing even before the end of China’s “zero covid” policy.
The study, conducted by scientists from several Chinese institutions, was based on the analysis of 413 genetic sequences of SARS-CoV-2 from infected people.
Of the total genomic sequences analyzed, 350 related to locally transmitted infections in China and 63 to cases imported from an equal number of countries.
Although limited to Beijing, the study found that the population of subvariants BA.5.2 and BF.7 increased after Nov. 14, with BA.5.2 and BF.7 accounting for 16.3% and 75.7% of local infections, respectively.
While BF.7 increased gradually from Nov. 14, BA.5.2 increased sharply from Nov. 30, the Lancet article notes.
On December 29, when the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control opposed mandatory testing of Covid-19 in the European Union (EU) for travelers from China, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control stressed that EU countries ” the level of immunization and vaccination had relatively high” and that the SARS-CoV-2 variants common in China were already circulating in the EU.
Covid-19 is an infectious respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, a type of virus that was discovered in China three years ago and has spread rapidly around the world, with several variants and subvariants, some more contagious than others . .
COVID-19 has been a pandemic since March 11, 2020 and an international public health emergency since January 30, 2020.
Source: DN
