B.1.617 ‘double mutant’ now also found in China
PREVIOUSLY, THE VARIANT CALLED B.1.617 HAD BEEN DETECTED IN 17 COUNTRIES INCLUDING THE U.S. AND THE U.K.
BEIJING: China on Thursday said it has detected the variant of Sars-cov-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, first found in India in some cities in the country, adding to the list of nations that have now reported cases of the so-called “double mutation” coronavirus.
The B.1.617 variant has been detected in “…some cities in my country, and everyone is very concerned, and also worried,” Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said at a press conference on Thursday.
Though Wu did not give details about the cities where the variant was detected, his statement came shortly after state media reported that 11 Chinese nationals on a cargo ship tested positive for Covid-19 after returning from a journey that included a stop at the Indian port of Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh.
Health officials in Zhejiang, a coastal province, said on Thursday 11 cases of “imported” Covid-19 infections were reported -all among the 20 Chinese crew members of the cargo ship -from Zhoushan port in the province.
The ship Huayang Chaoyang had docked at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh besides stopping at Chittagong in Bangladesh, Singapore, and Xiamen in China, officials said.
They did not give a timeline for the entire journey, but said the 11 patients were diagnosed with Covid-19 this week after the ship docked at Zhoushan Xinya Shipyard in Zhejiang province for repairs and the crew was tested.
It is not known if the variant was detected in these 11 cases, and if the crew members were infected in India or in some other place.
On Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said a variant of Covid-19 that is believed to be among the dominant variants in India -- officially classified as B.1.617 -- has been found in at least 17 countries, including the US, the UK and Singapore. China wasn’t one of the countries named.
The “double mutation” virus was first detected in India on October 5, and was relatively obscure till it began popping up on increasing number of samples January onwards, according to the India situation report on outbreak.info.
It is a worrying trend for India as B.1.617 was first found in a large number of samples in Maharashtra, the first hot spot region of the second wave of infections that has now burdened the health care infrastructure in the country. WHO, too, acknowledged on Tuesday that its preliminary modelling based on sequences submitted to the GISAID open database indicates “that B.1.617 has a higher growth rate than other circulating variants in India, suggesting potential increased transmissibility”. It stressed that other variants circulating at the same time were also showing increased transmissibility, and that the combination “may be playing a role in the current resurgence in this country.”
In Beijing, chief epidemiologist Wu said the surge in Covid-19 cases in some Asian countries has again sounded the alarm that the prevention and control of the pandemic is far from over. Wu was responding to questions on the pandemic situation in India, and whether Chinese authorities were taking measures to guard against it.
He pointed out, according to state broadcaster, CGTN, that mutations of Sars-cov-2 will not stop as long as the pandemic continues. But the transmission of different virus variants can be stopped, Wu said, adding: “Implementing containment measures is crucial both to stop the spread of the mutant strains and to prevent the occurrence of new mutations.”
Wu’s remarks also come days ahead of Labour Day holidays beginning Saturday, when millions of people in China are expected to travel across the country – the number of bookings in public transport have exceeded pre-pandemic 2019levels.
China, where the first cases of Covid-19 were reported in December 2019, was largely able to limit the spread of the outbreak with strict lockdown measures, according to the country’s government. Its national health commission (NHC) said on Thursday that all of the 20 new cases reported in the past 24 hours were “imported” infections. The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in mainland China now stands at 90,642, and the death toll at 4,636.