China News Service, January 3. According to the website of the Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention has strengthened the sequencing and analysis of the new coronavirus gene in imported cases since September last year after the UK reported a variant of the new coronavirus. The samples of confirmed cases and asymptomatic infections imported from overseas in Guangdong Province were retrospectively sequenced.
On January 2, 2021, the Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention found a B.1.1.7 mutant in a throat swab sample from a confirmed case of new coronary pneumonia imported into the United Kingdom, which was highly similar to the genetic sequence of the mutant virus recently reported in the United Kingdom.
The case is a British immigrant under closed-loop management, male, 18 years old, Chinese nationality, and international student.
Entered Guangzhou from the UK on December 4, 2020, and tested negative for the new coronavirus nucleic acid upon entry.
On December 18, a sample of the new coronavirus nucleic acid at the isolation point was positive and sent to the Eighth People's Hospital of Guangzhou for isolation and treatment. The confirmed case was diagnosed and the clinical type was light. It is still in the centralized medical isolation point of the Eighth People's Hospital of Guangzhou. Perform medical observation after discharge.
On December 27, 2020, the Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a genome sequencing analysis on the throat swab samples collected by the Eighth People's Hospital of Guangzhou City, which initially suggested that it was a B.1.1.7 mutant.
After another high-throughput sequencing review on January 2nd, the results showed that the viral gene sequence in the case sample belonged to the B.1.1.7 subtype.
The virus genome sequence contains 13 branch-specific amino acid mutation sites of the B.1.1.7 subtype mutant strain, including the S protein N501Y, which has a potentially important impact on the virus infection ability, the P681H mutation and the S protein related to virus immune escape 69-70 deletion mutation.
According to the current situation, this B.1.1.7 mutant strain is more transmissible, but the patient’s symptoms, severe illness rate, and fatality rate are basically unchanged. The vaccines currently developed are still effective, and most of the diagnostic test reagents are still effective. Guangdong CDC reminds citizens not to panic.
Guangdong Province will continue to strengthen the gene sequencing analysis and monitoring of the mutant strain, further implement the epidemic prevention and control work in designated treatment hospitals and isolation places, and further implement the health monitoring and nucleic acid testing of the staff in the isolation place to ensure that the mutant strain is not in Guangdong Cause subsequent spread.