China finds new coronavirus subtype as daily cases exceed 13,000

[SHANGHAI] China added more than 13,000 new Covid-19 infections with state media reporting a case infected with a new subtype of the Omicron variant.

The new iteration of the virus, isolated from a mild Covid-19 patient in a city less than 70 km from Shanghai, evolves from the BA.1.1 branch of the Omicron variant, Global Times reported, citing sequencing data from local health authorities. The report said the subtype does not match other coronavirus that is causing Covid in China nor those submitted to GISAID, where scientists around the world share the coronavirus they sequenced as a way to monitor mutations.

A case in Dalian city in northern China reported last Friday (Apr 1) also did not match any coronavirus found domestically, the municipal government said on its WeChat account.

Almost 12,000 of the cases reported nationwide on Saturday were labelled asymptomatic.

Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan arrived in the country's virus hotspot of Shanghai to oversee prevention efforts, as she ordered officials to curtail the outbreak "as soon as possible", reported Xinhua news agency. Cases in the financial hub exceeded 8,000 on Saturday including 7,788 asymptomatic infections. BLOOMBERG