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Updated May 6th, 2021 at 18:27 IST

China reports 18 cases of double mutant COVID variant from India, 'everyone is concerned'

CDC’s chief epidemiologist Wu Zunyou said "COVID-19 strain prevalent in India has been detected in some cities in my country, and everyone is very concerned".

Reported by: Priya Pareek
China
(Image credit: AP) | Image:self
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China has reported at least 18 cases of double mutant coronavirus variant first discovered in India, state media reported on May 5. Three Chinese nationals, who had worked near Delhi, tested positive for the virus after they travelled to China last month via Kathmandu. The Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention fears more COVID-19 cases of the double mutant variant but denied the risk of cluster infections due to strict screening. 

The three people were reportedly working at a mobile phone company in Noida and had travelled to New Delhi in a chartered car on April 19. Later, they travelled to Kathmandu with protective clothes, N95 respirators, goggles and gloves and headed to Chinese city of Chongqing. South China’s Zhejiang province and Shanghai have also reported imported cases and asymptomatic cases from India.

The CDC field notes said, “supporting [the conclusion] that the Covid-19 infection on these three patients probably occurred in India”.

“They stayed in a hotel in Nepal for two days and then flew to southwest China’s Chongqing on April 21 and immediately tested positive for Covid-19 after landing in Chongqing,” the CDC Weekly report said.

One Indian among 18 cases

According to China's state-run Global Times, other than these three cases an Indian man also tested positive for  B.1.617.2 variant. He had landed at Shanghai airport from Niger via Paris. Further, CDC’s chief epidemiologist Wu Zunyou said that "COVID-19 strain prevalent in India has been detected in some cities in my country, and everyone is very concerned." However, he did not specify the names of the cities where these cases have been reported. 

China has reported a total of 90,721 Covid-19 cases and 4,636 deaths since the start of the pandemic, with the last death recorded this January. Flights between India and China have been banned since last year and while China was to report the first case of coronavirus, the country crawled back to normal by implementing strict lockdowns and restrictions. India, on the other hand, reported 4.12 lakh new coronavirus cases and 3,980 deaths due to the virus.

 

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Published May 6th, 2021 at 17:55 IST

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