No new variants of Covid-19 have been found in China following a surge in cases. Concerns had been raised the high number of cases which emerged after it finally lifted its strict safety measures in December could lead to new mutations of the virus.
However researchers have now said there is no evidence of this with a study showing there were no new strains in circulation. Instead A study, published in The Lancet suggests most of the infections discovered in Beijing between November 14 and December 20 last year were of two existing Omicron sub-variants - BA.5.2 and BF.7.
It found more than 90% of the local infections of the virus were as a result of one of those two sub-variants. And the authors of the report say the results represent a snapshot of the pandemic in China, due to the characteristics of Beijing’s population and the circulation of highly transmissible COVID-19 strains there.
