A makeshift nucleic acid testing site inside a parking lot of Shanghai Pudong International Airport on November 22, 2020. The first patient with the more contagious strain, is a 23-year-old woman who flew into Shanghai from Britain on December 14. The variant has been detected in 10 countries, including the UK and China, around the world to date. The patient's sample was genetically sequenced on December 24, and the result showed that the strain was different from the previous Shanghai strain detected in November, suggesting a different route of transmission. To minimize risks of the new virus strain spreading, authorities in Shanghai have taken a number of measures, including intensified tracing of close contacts of the patient.

Source: The Standard December 31, 2020 14:26 UTC