By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
SpeedUp9ja
  • Home
  • Music
  • Video
  • News
  • Health
  • World
  • Nigeria
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
Reading: China’s COVID-19 surge raises odds of new coronavirus mutant
Share
Sign In
Notification Show More
Latest News
Ex-Imo PDP chairman, Alex Obi, dies at 68 
Ex-Imo PDP chairman, Alex Obi, dies at 68 
News
FA Cup dream over for Wrexham and its Hollywood owners
Sports
Al-Hilal upsets Flamengo 3-2 to reach Club World Cup final
Sports
South American 2030 World Cup bid seeks final in Montevideo
Sports
Nollywood Actress Funke Akinde Looses Mom
Entertainment
SpeedUp9ja
  • Music
  • Nigeria
  • Entertainment
  • Contact Us
  • Hip-Hop
  • Politics
Search
  • Categories
  • Entertainment
  • Music
  • News
  • Video
  • Bussiness
  • Africa
  • Politics
  • Nigeria
  • World
  • Health
  • Insider
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
Copyright © 2022 SpeedUp9ja. All right reserved
-Advertisement-

China’s COVID-19 surge raises odds of new coronavirus mutant

Could the COVID-19 surge in China unleash a new coronavirus mutant on the world

Last updated: December 25, 2022 at 10:25 PM
By SU9 staff 1 month ago Add a Comment
Share
A man gets tested for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a makeshift nucleic acid testing site outside a hotel in Wuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China March 24, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
SHARE

Could the COVID-19 surge in China unleash a new coronavirus mutant on the world?

Scientists don’t know but worry that might happen. It could be similar to omicron variants circulating there now. It could be a combination of strains. Or something entirely different, they say.

More Read

10 Fastest Ways To Lose Weight In Nigeria
10 Fastest Ways To Lose Weight In Nigeria
NCDC activates national EOC at level 2 to tackle Lassa fever
Lassa fever: Nigeria at high risk of transmission, NCDC say

“China has a population that is very large and there’s limited immunity. And that seems to be the setting in which we may see an explosion of a new variant,” said Dr. Stuart Campbell Ray, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins University.

Every new infection offers a chance for the coronavirus to mutate, and the virus is spreading rapidly in China. The country of 1.4 billion has largely abandoned its “zero COVID” policy. Though overall reported vaccination rates are high, booster levels are lower, especially among older people. Domestic vaccines have proven less effective against serious infection than Western-made messenger RNA versions. Many were given more than a year ago, meaning immunity has waned. 

The result? Fertile ground for the virus to change.

“When we’ve seen big waves of infection, it’s often followed by new variants being generated,” Ray said.

About three years ago, the original version of the coronavirus spread from China to the rest of the world and was eventually replaced by the delta variant, then omicron and its descendants, which continue plaguing the world today.

Dr. Shan-Lu Liu, who studies viruses at Ohio State University, said many existing omicron variants have been detected in China, including BF.7, which is extremely adept at evading immunity and is believed to be driving the current surge. 

Experts said a partially immune population like China’s puts particular pressure on the virus to change. Ray compared the virus to a boxer that “learns to evade the skills that you have and adapt to get around those.”

One big unknown is whether a new variant will cause more severe disease. Experts say there’s no inherent biological reason the virus has to become milder over time.

“Much of the mildness we’ve experienced over the past six to 12 months in many parts of the world has been due to accumulated immunity either through vaccination or infection, not because the virus has changed” in severity, Ray said. 

In China, most people have never been exposed to the coronavirus. China’s vaccines rely on an older technology producing fewer antibodies than messenger RNA vaccines. 

Given those realities, Dr. Gagandeep Kang, who studies viruses at the Christian Medical College in Vellore, India, said it remains to be seen if the virus will follow the same pattern of evolution in China as it has in the rest of the world after vaccines came out. “Or,” she asked, “will the pattern of evolution be completely different?”

Recently, the World Health Organization expressed concern about reports of severe disease in China. Around the cities of Baoding and Langfang outside Beijing, hospitals have run out of intensive care beds and staff as severe cases surge.

China’s plan to track the virus centers around three city hospitals in each province, where samples will be collected from walk-in patients who are very sick and all those who die every week, Xu Wenbo of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said at a briefing Tuesday.

He said 50 of the 130 omicron versions detected in China had resulted in outbreaks. The country is creating a national genetic database “to monitor in real time” how different strains were evolving and the potential implications for public health, he said.

At this point, however, there’s limited information about genetic viral sequencing coming out of China, said Jeremy Luban, a virologist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

“We don’t know all of what’s going on,” Luban said. But clearly, “the pandemic is not over.” 

———

AP video producer Olivia Zhang and reporter Dake Kang in Beijing contributed to this report.

You Might Also Like

10 Fastest Ways To Lose Weight In Nigeria

NCDC activates national EOC at level 2 to tackle Lassa fever

Lassa fever: Nigeria at high risk of transmission, NCDC say

Lassa fever: 1 dead, 15 Put under surveillance in Anambra

Malawi cholera death toll hits 1,000, outbreak spreads 

TAGGED: china, COVID-19

Sign Up For Daily Updates

Stay Updated! Get the latest breaking News & New Music delivered straight to your inbox for free.

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.
SU9 staff December 25, 2022
Share this Article
Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Whatsapp Reddit Email Copy Link
Previous Article In this Aug. 6, 1987 file photo, Brazilian soccer champion Pele is shown. Soccer star Pelé’s family shares updates from his hospital bed
Next Article Nigeria Air Force kill 2 terrorist kingpins, 100 others in Borno
Leave a comment Leave a comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Most Recent

Ex-Imo PDP chairman, Alex Obi, dies at 68 
Ex-Imo PDP chairman, Alex Obi, dies at 68 
News
FA Cup dream over for Wrexham and its Hollywood owners
Sports
Al-Hilal upsets Flamengo 3-2 to reach Club World Cup final
Sports
South American 2030 World Cup bid seeks final in Montevideo
Sports

Follow Our Social medias

230k Followers Like
4.7k Followers Follow
28.3k Subscribers Subscribe

Recommended for you

10 Fastest Ways To Lose Weight In Nigeria

10 Fastest Ways To Lose Weight In Nigeria

3 days ago
1 dead, 15 Placed under surveillance in Anambra

NCDC activates national EOC at level 2 to tackle Lassa fever

1 week ago
123 Cases of Diphtheria, 38 death Confirmed in 4 states - NCDC

Lassa fever: Nigeria at high risk of transmission, NCDC say

1 week ago
1 dead, 15 Placed under surveillance in Anambra

Lassa fever: 1 dead, 15 Put under surveillance in Anambra

2 weeks ago
- Advertisement -

Trending Today 🔥

Twitter leak exposes 235 million email addresses from hack

PDP declares work-free day for Atiku’s Anambra visit

Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba

Nigeria Police launches official website for stolen cars report

Shoppers are pictured at a supermarket in Urumqi, in China's northwestern Xinjiang region, following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions in the city, Dec. 5, 2022.

China loosens COVID restrictions after protests rock the country

Boeing's last 747 rolled off the assembly line.

End of an era as final Boeing 747 rolls off assembly line

D’banj Name govt officials involved, Tweeps tell ICPC

Blaq Jerzee ft. Gyakie – Right Here

2023 election: Bishop Oyedepo reveals what Nigeria needs as Peter Obi storms Shiloh

INEC raises concern over thousands of unclaimed PVCs in Anambra

Singer D’banj arrested, detained over alleged embezzlement of public fund

- Advertisement -
SpeedUp9ja

We influence 20 million users and we are number one News, Music, Entertainment and Political news website in Nigeria. best Music Trends, New music videos, Celebrity Gists and international news headlines

Categories

  • Entertainment
  • Bussiness

Quick Links

  • Advertise with us
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 SpeedUp9ja. All right reserved

speedup9ja logo speedup9ja logo
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Register Lost your password?