The Shanghai authorities have identified a coronavirus case involving a new sub variant of Omicron BA.5, Omicron BA.5.2.1, an official announced at a press briefing on Sunday, signalling the difficulties China faces in managing new variants of coronavirus as it implements its zero outbreak policy.
The outbreak, which was detected in Pudong district[/B] on July 8, is linked to overseas, said Zhao Dandan, the deputy director of the city's health committee.
Shanghai in eastern China emerged from a lockdown, which lasted about two months, in early June but continued to impose strict restrictions, quarantining buildings and housing complexes as new possible chains of transmission emerged.
Our city continues to record more positive cases of community transmission and the risk of epidemiological spread through the community remains very high, he warned.
According to Zhao, residents in several central districts of Shanghai will undergo diagnostic tests in two rounds-from July 12 to 14-in an effort to check for new possible outbreaks of the virus.
Omicron variant BA.5, which is responsible for a new wave of overseas cases, was first identified in China on 13 May in a 37-year-old patient who had flown to Shanghai from Uganda, according to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The BA.5 variant was shown to have an accelerated rate of transmission and improved immune escape capacity, said Yuan Zengan, a member of a committee of coronavirus prevention experts in that city, speaking at today's press briefing.
But he added that vaccination remains effective in preventing serious illness or death from BA.5
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