Patient with new variant shows mild symptoms

A SHANGHAI patient infected with the new variant of COVID-19 discovered in the UK displayed extremely mild symptoms, according to Dr Zhang Wenhong, a top infectious-disease expert.

The patient, a 23- year- old woman who returned to Shanghai from Britain on December 14, was found to have the strain known as B.1.1.7 that has been spreading in the UK since October.

“This case is nothing special, not different from any other patients infected with the new coronavirus,” said Zhang, director of the infectious diseases department at Shanghai’s Huashan Hospital. “Her symptoms were so mild that they didn’t require my attention.”

Zhang is also leading the team treating COVID-19 patients in Shanghai. “She has tested negative for the virus and left the isolation ward,” he added.

Zhang said that although the mutant virus might spread slightly faster, the current isolation measures and quarantine methods still work very effectively. Vaccination against it is also effective.

Another imported coronavirus variant case has been detected in south China’s Guangdong Province, the provincial center for disease control and prevention said yesterday.

The individual is an 18-yearold Chinese national who studies in Britain. He arrived in the provincial capital Guangzhou from Britain on December 4 and was quarantined immediately. He tested positive for the novel coronavirus and was diagnosed as a confirmed mild COVID-19 case on December 18.

The individual is still under medical observation after being discharged from hospital.