Covid-19: Should we be worried about the new variant causing a giant wave in China?

Epidemiologists around the world are all looking at China after they made the decision to drop many of their toughest Covid-19 restrictions, including quarantine for travellers. The move has got virologists worried as cases are surging in China and the concern is the dominant strain BF.7 could spell trouble for other countries around the world.

Previously China had a strict zero-covid approach to tackling the virus brought in by Xi Jinping but as of 8 January, quarantine measures for overseas visitors will be scrapped meaning new variants could spread rapidly, as per The Guardian.

Perfect breeding ground

Covid-19 experts are concerned that ongoing lockdowns in China have meant that a significant number of the population have not been exposed to numerous variants and therefore lack immunity. It is feared this could create a perfect breeding ground for new variants, which could then spread around the world.

Aris Katzourakis, professor of evolution and genomics at the University of Oxford, stated that the high number of infections will probably mean new variants, as per The Telegraph:

I am not going to predict a direction, but there will be a whole lot of opportunity for rapid change.

This was corroborated by Antoine Flahault, the director of the Institute of Global Health at the University of Geneva:

The fact that 1.4 billion people are suddenly exposed to SARS-CoV-2 obviously creates conditions prone to emerging variants.

Any variants, when more transmissible than the previous dominant ones, definitely represent threats, since they can cause new waves

WHO

The World Health Organisation’s director general, Dr Tedros Adhhanom Ghebreyesus, has echoed calls on China to share more data and studies about what Covid-19 variants are in circulation to help understand the situation better, as per The Guardian:

WHO is very concerned over the evolving situation in China with increasing reports of severe disease.

In order to make a comprehensive risk assessment of the situation on the ground, WHO needs more detailed information on disease severity, hospital admissions, and requirements for ICU support.

Meanwhile, the European Commission said its health security committee would meet on Thursday to discuss ‘possible measures for a coordinated EU approach’ to the Covid-19 situation in China.

Sources used:

- The Guardian 'China’s move to open up travel sparks concern over spread of new variants'

- The Telegraph 'China is now the perfect breeding ground for new Covid variants - and Britain must act'