No New Variants , Emerged in Recent Chinese, COVID Outbreak, Study Suggests.<br />NBC reports that an analysis of COVID cases <br />in Beijing suggests that China's recent outbreak <br />did not lead to the emergence of any new variants.<br />On December 7, the Chinese government dropped <br />most restrictions amid rare mass unrest after <br />nearly three years of strict "zero-COVID" policies.<br />Following the sudden change, an outbreak occurred as <br />the population of 1.4 billion was exposed to COVID after <br />spending the majority of the pandemic under strict lockdowns.<br />According to a Chinese-funded study, which was <br />published in 'The Lancet,' 413 samples tested from <br />Beijing were all linked to existing COVID variants.<br />The study found that over 90% of local <br />infections were found to be Omicron <br />subvariants BA.5.2 and BF.7.<br />Our analysis suggests two known <br />Omicron subvariants — rather than <br />any new variants — have chiefly been <br />responsible for the current surge <br />in Beijing, and likely China as a whole, George Gao, professor at the Institute of Microbiology <br />in the Chinese Academy of Sciences, via NBC.<br />However, with ongoing large-scale <br />circulation of COVID-19 in China, <br />it is important we continue to monitor <br />the situation closely so that any <br />new variants that might emerge are <br />found as early as possible, George Gao, professor at the Institute of Microbiology <br />in the Chinese Academy of Sciences, via NBC.<br />NBC points out that the study was conducted <br />early in the recent outbreak, and the sampling <br />was limited to only the city of Beijing.<br />In December, China ended mandatory testing, which <br />makes it difficult to know the total number of cases or <br />the percentage of cases represented by the samples.<br />At the time, Zeng Guang, former chief epidemiologist <br />at the Chinese CDC, said that over 80% of people <br />in Beijing had likely contracted COVID
