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Chinese health experts watch for clues as Delta variant ‘poses challenges’
- Government health adviser says authorities are engaged in ‘hand-to-hand combat’ with the transmission chain
- Concerns over high transmissibility of new strains and possibility vaccines could be less effective against them
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In southern China, just days after Guangdong province managed to subdue a Covid-19 outbreak caused by the Delta variant in late May, a Shenzhen airport worker caught the highly transmissible strain.
A new cluster emerged, with six locally transmitted cases found in Shenzhen and Dongguan, all traced back to the airport worker who tested positive on June 14.
On Wednesday, a government health adviser told local media that authorities are now engaged in “hand-to-hand combat” with the transmission chain.
Mass testing and contact tracing is expected to keep a lid on the spread of the virus, but Chinese health experts have expressed concern about the high transmissibility of new strains like Delta, and the possibility that vaccines could be less effective against them.
The Delta variant – or B. 1.617.2 – was first identified in India in October 2020. It has now spread to 92 countries and has been blamed for a surge in cases in Britain, Portugal, Russia, Indonesia and other parts of Asia.
White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci has called the variant the biggest threat to US efforts to eliminate Covid-19 and predicted it would soon become a dominant strain in the United States.
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