Yasmina Kattou
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12:07, 02 January 2023
As Beijing lifted Covid-related restrictions and Chinese people started traveling again, many countries, including France, implemented various measures to control arrivals. Devices that can be explained by the explosion of cases in China, caused in particular by the extremely contagious subvariant BF.7.
From January 8, Chinese travelers will be able to travel freely. But since December 7 and the end of the zero Covid policy, the number of infections has exploded in the country: 30 million cases a day, according to some doctors. As Beijing continues to lift its coping restrictions in Europe, no joint measures have been put in place among the 27 member countries of the European Union.
Only case-by-case protocols have been decreed and after Spain and Italy, France has decided to impose a negative test on departure, a mandatory mask on the plane and spot checks on arrival.
A subvariant that escapes acquired immunity
If the epidemic spreads it is because the population has not contaminated itself sufficiently, the protection provided by Chinese vaccines is considered insufficient, but probably also for the BF.7 variant, which seems to be circulating a lot in China, especially in Beijing. What do we know about this variant?
BF.7 is a cousin subvariant of Omicron and is said to be a bit more contagious. According to early data, one person infected with BF.7 could in turn infect between 10 and 18 people. With the other variants of Omicron, one patient transmits his disease to an average of 5 people. The symptoms caused by the BF.7 strain remain the same: fever, cough, sore throat. Sometimes diarrhea and vomiting.
This cousin of Omicron is not new, as it has been circulating in France since last spring. In October, BF.7 accounted for 10% of positive tests sequenced versus less than 1% today. According to a recent study, the subvariant escapes acquired immunity. This means that a vaccinated or recently infected person can become ill again from this strain.
