China finds first cases of new coronavirus variant in Guangdong province
- Two recent arrivals from Britain were found to be carrying the strain, which was first detected in Nigeria late last year
- The Guangdong centre for disease control and prevention says research shows the variant is more infectious but the two carriers are being monitored in hospital
China has detected its first case of a highly infectious new variant of Covid-19 in the southern province of Guangdong.
The provincial centre for disease control and prevention (CDC) found the variant known as B1525, which was first detected in Nigeria, in two people who had recently arrived from Britain, according to an announcement on Sunday.
The two people were identified as asymptomatic carriers on February 21 and 22 while quarantined and have been put under observation in hospital.
There is no information on whether the two travelled together.
The provincial CDC started genetic sequencing on their samples on March 5 and confirmed the variant last Friday.
“There is research that shows the Nigerian variant makes the coronavirus more infectious, and may more easily help the virus evade neutralising antibodies and that recovered people can be infected again,” according to the Guangdong CDC statement.