China reports 34 new COVID cases; submits virus genome to WHO
BEIJING: China has reported 34 new Coronavirus cases, including 22 in Beijing, where the health officials have submitted the virus genome sequence from the recent clusters of COVID-19 infections to the World Health Organisation, officials said on Saturday.
The National Health Commission (NHC) said 34 new cases, including seven asymptomatic infections of the COVID-19 were reported in the country.
Twenty-two domestically transmitted cases were reported in Beijing and one in Hebei Province, the NHC said.
It said 108 asymptomatic cases, including 57 from overseas, were still under medical observation.
Beijing reported 22 newly confirmed domestically-transmitted COVID-19 cases and two asymptomatic cases on Friday, the municipal health commission said on Saturday. By the end of Friday, Beijing had reported 625 confirmed domestically-transmitted cases, including 411 who had been discharged from hospitals after recovery and nine deaths. There were 17 asymptomatic cases still under medical observation.
The NHC said on Saturday that mainland China till now has reported 83,352 confirmed cases of Coronavirus and 4,634 deaths.
The officials alleged the new strain of the virus in Beijing came from Europe.
So far, 174 imported cases have been reported in Beijing, with one still hospitalised.
The Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released the virus genome sequence from the recent clusters of COVID-19 infections related to Beijing’s Xinfadi wholesale farm produce market.
The data, released through the Novel Coronavirus National Science and Technology Resource Service System on Thursday came from both COVID-19 case samples and environmental samples.
The CDC has submitted the relevant genome sequence to the WHO and the global initiative on sharing all influenza data to share the data globally. Chinese virologists alleged the strain of the new virus in Beijing has European origin. An initial epidemiological survey shows the Coronavirus strain detected at the Xinfadi wholesale market in Beijing came from Europe, a report in state-run Global Times said.
It said the strain had existed
longer than the current Coronavirus strain circulating in Europe, Chinese virologists inferred.
They say it is possible that the virus did not mutate during transport as it was sealed in frozen food, stored in cold and damp conditions, it said. Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, told the media on Thursday that the “findings at Beijing reminded us of the first outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan
last year, which happened at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market”.
The focus of the Huanan investigation was the wild animal stalls, even though the seafood sellers were right next to them, Wu said.
The WHO has already questioned the Chinese officials’ claims that the virus was traced to the imported salmon in Xinfadi and purported origins to Europe saying that there is no evidence to back it.