A new mutation was found in China, which has meanwhile also arrived in Germany. What do the experts say about the BF.7 subvariant?
Munich/Beijing – China has been overwhelmed for weeks by a wave of coronavirus, which the rest of the world is watching with concern. The sudden government relaxation after the strict three-year zero-Covid regulation led to an extreme increase in infections and a new mutation: the BF.7 variant, a subvariant of Omicron BA. 5. Now there is updated information about the infection situation in China.
The news agency wants to know how high the number of infections in China really is Bloomberg learned from the minutes of an internal meeting of the Chinese National Health Commission held on December 21. According to estimates by the government’s top health authority, nearly 37 million people in China were infected with the corona virus in a single day in the past week. Those involved in the conversation had confirmed the information to the agency. According to the agency, if internal assessments are correct, this would make the outbreak by far the largest in the world.
China: The BF.7 mutation is circulating in the country: the number of corona infections is apparently at a record high
According to the information of Bloomberg, that in the first 20 days of December alone, up to 248 million people in China are likely to have contracted Covid-19. This would correspond to almost 18 percent of the population. “If true, the infection rate would dwarf the previous daily record of about 4 million set in January,” the agency continues.
A new mutation has also been identified during the corona wave that swept through China. The BF.7 variant has been circulating for some time not only in many Chinese metropolises, but also in Germany, by the way. According to the latest RKI weekly report dated 22 December, BA.5 underlines BF.7 accounted for around 24% of infections in early December.
The new BF.7 corona variant from China is so dangerous for Germany
However, it is important to correctly consider and classify the health risk from the new mutation in each country. According to the epidemiologist Nanshan the mutation is overall easily transferable, assessments by virologists Christian Drosten and Hendrik Streeck According to the report, the risk of infection in Germany and many other countries is not as high as in China. Why: The BF.7 is a sub-variant of the Omikron BA5 variant. Therefore, many people in Germany are already immune to it.
Meanwhile, national immunity in China is exactly what the population lacks. The country could therefore face a gloomy winter. Experts predict one million deaths in China in the coming weeks. (nz)
