<p>China has confirmed its first case of a new coronavirus variant that was recently detected in Britain, health officials said.</p>.<p>The new strain, which experts say potentially spreads faster than the original variant, has prompted travel restrictions on the UK by more than 50 countries -- including China, where the coronavirus first emerged late last year.</p>.<p>The first patient in China with the new variant is a 23-year-old woman from Shanghai who arrived from Britain on December 14, the Chinese Centre for Disease Control said in a research note published Wednesday.</p>.<p>She was hospitalised on arrival as she showed mild symptoms. Health experts conducted a genetic sequencing of her test samples on December 24 "due to travel history from the UK and abnormalities in nucleic acid test results", the China CDC said.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/science-and-environment/coronavirus-vaccine-live-updates-covaxin-clinical-trials-human-trials-coronavirus-vaccine%20tracker-india-russia-us-china-oxford-moderna-bharat-biotech-866148.html" target="_blank"><strong>Coronavirus vaccine news live updates on DH</strong></a></p>.<p>The patient was found to have a strain different to those found in Shanghai or Wuhan earlier, and further testing confirmed it was the variant known as B.1.1.7 that has been spreading in the UK since October.</p>.<p>Health authorities have carried out contact-tracing, the CDC statement added.</p>.<p>China suspended direct flights to and from Britain indefinitely on December 24 because of the new strain.</p>.<p>British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the new variant "maybe up to 70 per cent more transmissible than the original version of the disease".</p>.<p>But there is no evidence so far to suggest that infection with the new variant is more likely to lead to a severe case of Covid-19 or increase the risk of death.</p>
<p>China has confirmed its first case of a new coronavirus variant that was recently detected in Britain, health officials said.</p>.<p>The new strain, which experts say potentially spreads faster than the original variant, has prompted travel restrictions on the UK by more than 50 countries -- including China, where the coronavirus first emerged late last year.</p>.<p>The first patient in China with the new variant is a 23-year-old woman from Shanghai who arrived from Britain on December 14, the Chinese Centre for Disease Control said in a research note published Wednesday.</p>.<p>She was hospitalised on arrival as she showed mild symptoms. Health experts conducted a genetic sequencing of her test samples on December 24 "due to travel history from the UK and abnormalities in nucleic acid test results", the China CDC said.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/science-and-environment/coronavirus-vaccine-live-updates-covaxin-clinical-trials-human-trials-coronavirus-vaccine%20tracker-india-russia-us-china-oxford-moderna-bharat-biotech-866148.html" target="_blank"><strong>Coronavirus vaccine news live updates on DH</strong></a></p>.<p>The patient was found to have a strain different to those found in Shanghai or Wuhan earlier, and further testing confirmed it was the variant known as B.1.1.7 that has been spreading in the UK since October.</p>.<p>Health authorities have carried out contact-tracing, the CDC statement added.</p>.<p>China suspended direct flights to and from Britain indefinitely on December 24 because of the new strain.</p>.<p>British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the new variant "maybe up to 70 per cent more transmissible than the original version of the disease".</p>.<p>But there is no evidence so far to suggest that infection with the new variant is more likely to lead to a severe case of Covid-19 or increase the risk of death.</p>