A new, more contagious strain of coronavirus that has spread in the UK has reached China, reports The Straits Times citing sources in the health sector.
It is known that a mutated version of the virus was found in a 23-year-old Shanghai woman who returned from Britain. She was diagnosed with mild symptoms of COVID-19. The doctors tracked all her contacts.
Currently, a new type of coronavirus has been detected in no less than 17 countries outside the UK. In North America, the first case of infection with a new strain was detected in Canada on December 26. More than 50 countries have closed flights with Britain.
A dangerous mutation of the coronavirus was first discovered in the UK in September, but it began to spread actively in December. The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the new strain could be 70 percent more contagious. The mutation affected the area of the spike protein on the surface of the coronavirus, which is responsible for attaching to cells located in the mucous membrane of the lungs and a number of other organs.