He genome analysis of 413 new infections by Covid-19 in Beijing during the period of time when China raised his stricter policies of pandemic control suggests that they were all caused by existing variants.
This is the main conclusion of a study published in the journal The Lancetin which its authors point out that the results can be considered “a snapshot” of the current state of the pandemic in that country.
“Given the impact that variants have had in the course of pandemicit was important to investigate whether new ones had emerged after the recent changes in the prevention policies and control of Covid-19 in China,” says lead author George Gaofrom the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The analysis suggests that 2 known subvariants of omicron have been the main responsible for the current rebound in beijingand probably in China as a whole.
“However, with the current large-scale circulation of Covid-19 in Chinait is important that we continue to closely monitor the situation so that any new variant that may arise is detected as soon as possible”, sums up the researcher.
For this work, the authors analyzed covid-19 samples detected in Beijing in 2022.
Thus, out of a total of 2,881 high-quality sequences included in the study, 413 were randomly selected, which were sequenced between November 14 – when the infections– and on December 20, 2022. Of these, 350 were local cases and 63 imported.
The analysis of the 413 sequences revealed that all of them belong to variants of Covid-19 existing and known.
The dominant variant in Beijing after November 14, 2022 was the BF.7, responsible for 75.7% of local infections. Another subvariant of omicron, BA5.2was responsible for 16.3% of the local cases.
Los imported cases during the same period they mostly involved variants other than those dominant in Beijing.
With information and image from EFE
