China detects first case of new coronavirus variant found in Britain
- The new strain was found in a 23-year-old female student returning to China from Britain
- The case ‘poses a great potential threat to the prevention and control of Covid-19 in the country’, a publication run by the Chinese CDC said
Countries around the world have cut off travel links to Britain to stop the spread of the new variant, which scientists have said is 40-70 per cent more transmissible than the original virus.
The variant was found in a 23-year-old female student returning to China from Britain, who was tested in Shanghai on December 14, according to the latest edition of China CDC Weekly published on Wednesday.
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The case “poses a great potential threat to the prevention and control of Covid-19 in China”, the publication said.
Researchers ran gene-sequencing on the patient’s sample on December 24 and found the strain is a variant known as “VUI202012/01”, the publication said.
The variant includes a genetic mutation that, in theory, could result in Covid-19 spreading more easily between people.