Experts say China is a ‘fertile breeding ground’ for potentially dangerous Covid mutations

A new mutant strain of the fatal virus may spread into the world as a result of China’s increasing COVID-19 cases, as per expert opinion.

The enormous population of China has weak immunity, which, according to Dr. Stuart Campbell Ray of Johns Hopkins University, ‘seems to be the setting in which we may see an explosion of a new variant.’

Every new Covid infection gives the virus a chance to mutate. Given how the virus is spreading in China, factors like the recently abandoned zero-Covid rules, a large population, high overall vaccination rates but low booster rates, and the absence of the more potent foreign mRNA vaccines may all contribute to a highly fertile environment for a coronavirus mutation.

‘When we’ve seen big waves of infection, it’s often followed by new variants being generated,’ said Ray comparing the coronavirus to a boxer that ‘learns to evade the skills that you have and adapt to get around those.’

The current surge in China is believed to be driven by the BF.7 subvariant, with many other Omicron variants believed to be circulating among the population.