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Coronavirus China
ChinaScience

China braces for Covid surge as JN.1 variant spreads around the world

  • JN.1 likely to become the prevailing strain throughout the country, in part driven by Lunar New Year travel
  • Cases expected to put pressure on struggling health services in rural areas

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Mass travel is expected to help drive a new coronavirus variant. Photo: AP
Josephine Ma
Chinese health authorities are calling for vigilance over the holidays as the country braces for a rise of Covid-19 cases caused by JN.1, a new variant of the coronavirus dominating in the United States and spreading rapidly elsewhere.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said earlier this month that JN.1 was first detected in the US in September and although it was likely to be more transmissible than other variants, it did not appear to cause more severe illnesses.

In China, the most prevalent variant is EG.5 but health authorities are expecting a rise in JN.1 because of an increase in imported cases, as well as mass travel over the Lunar New Year holidays in early February.

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“Due to continued stream of imported cases of JN.1 and the mass movement of people before and after the Lunar New Year, the JN.1 variant is likely to become a prevailing variant in the country, and that will cause an increase in Covid-19 cases,” Li Zhengmao, from the National Administration of Disease Prevention and Control, said on Friday.

Li added that China was bracing for an uptick in multiple respiratory diseases during the winter.

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“[The rise in JN.1 cases] will increase the risks of severe cases and deaths among elderly and vulnerable people with underlying diseases. It will also create pressure on the health system in rural areas as they are less able to treat the infected,” he added.

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