Rapid rise of COVID-19 in China raises threat of new mutant
Could the COVID-19 surge in China unleash a new coronavirus mutant on the world?
Scientists don’t know but worry that might happen. It could be similar to omicron variants circulating there now. It could be a combination of strains. Or something entirely different, they say.
“China has a population that is very large and there’s limited immunity. And that seems to be the setting in which we may see an explosion of a new variant,” said Dr. Stuart Campbell Ray, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins University.
Every new infection offers a chance for the coronavirus to mutate, and the virus is spreading rapidly in China. The country of 1.4 billion has largely abandoned its “zero COVID” policy. Though overall reported vaccination rates are high, booster levels are lower, especially among older people. Domestic vaccines have proven less effective against serious infection than Western-made messenger RNA versions. Many were given more than a year ago, meaning immunity has waned.
The result? Fertile ground for the virus to change.
Read more or scroll to bottom for 8 charts that capture the COVID-19 situation in the United States.
As China grapples with a national COVID-19 wave, emergency wards in small cities and towns southwest of Beijing are overwhelmed. Intensive care units are turning away ambulances, relatives of sick people are searching for open beds and patients are slumped on benches in hospital corridors and lying on floors for a lack of beds.
China’s unyielding “zero-COVID” approach, which aimed to isolate all infected people, bought it years to prepare for the disease. But an abrupt reopening, announced Dec. 7 in the wake of anti-lockdown protests, caught the nation under-vaccinated and short on hospital capacity.
Experts have forecast between a million and 2 million deaths next year.
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Rapid rise of COVID-19 in China raises threat of new mutantAndy Wong - staff, AP
FILE - Masked commuters walk through a walkway in between two subway stations as they head to work during the morning rush hour in Beijing, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022. China continues to adapt to an easing of strict virus containment regulations. About three years ago, the original version of the coronavirus spread from China to the rest of the world and was eventually replaced by the delta variant, then omicron and its descendants, which continue plaguing the world today.
Andy Wong - staff, APFILE - Masked commuters walk through a walkway in between two subway stations as they head to work during the morning rush hour in Beijing, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022. China continues to adapt to an easing of strict virus containment regulations. About three years ago, the original version of the coronavirus spread from China to the rest of the world and was eventually replaced by the delta variant, then omicron and its descendants, which continue plaguing the world today.
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Rapid rise of COVID-19 in China raises threat of new mutantUncredited - staff, AP
A man lifts an empty casket onto a van as relatives in traditional Chinese funeral attires rest near the Gaobeidian Funeral Home in northern China's Hebei province, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. Bodies from Beijing, a two-hour drive away are appearing at the Gaobeidian funeral home, because similar funeral homes in Beijing were packed.
Uncredited - staff, APA man lifts an empty casket onto a van as relatives in traditional Chinese funeral attires rest near the Gaobeidian Funeral Home in northern China's Hebei province, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. Bodies from Beijing, a two-hour drive away are appearing at the Gaobeidian funeral home, because similar funeral homes in Beijing were packed.
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Rapid rise of COVID-19 in China raises threat of new mutantUncredited - staff, AP
A relative in traditional Chinese funeral attire stands near funeral wreaths at the Gaobeidian Funeral Home in northern China's Hebei province, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. Bodies from Beijing, a two-hour drive away are appearing at the Gaobeidian funeral home, because similar funeral homes in Beijing were packed.
Uncredited - staff, APA relative in traditional Chinese funeral attire stands near funeral wreaths at the Gaobeidian Funeral Home in northern China's Hebei province, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. Bodies from Beijing, a two-hour drive away are appearing at the Gaobeidian funeral home, because similar funeral homes in Beijing were packed.
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Rapid rise of COVID-19 in China raises threat of new mutantUncredited - staff, AP
Relatives burn paper offerings for their dead relative at the Gaobeidian Funeral Home in northern China's Hebei province, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. Bodies from Beijing, a two-hour drive away are appearing at the Gaobeidian funeral home, because similar funeral homes in Beijing were packed.
Uncredited - staff, APRelatives burn paper offerings for their dead relative at the Gaobeidian Funeral Home in northern China's Hebei province, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. Bodies from Beijing, a two-hour drive away are appearing at the Gaobeidian funeral home, because similar funeral homes in Beijing were packed.
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Rapid rise of COVID-19 in China raises threat of new mutantUncredited - staff, AP
Family members light fireworks as offerings for their deceased relative at the Gaobeidian Funeral Home in northern China's Hebei province, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022 Bodies from Beijing, a two-hour drive away, are appearing at the Gaobeidian funeral home, because similar funeral homes in Beijing were packed.
Uncredited - staff, APFamily members light fireworks as offerings for their deceased relative at the Gaobeidian Funeral Home in northern China's Hebei province, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022 Bodies from Beijing, a two-hour drive away, are appearing at the Gaobeidian funeral home, because similar funeral homes in Beijing were packed.
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Rapid rise of COVID-19 in China raises threat of new mutantUncredited - staff, AP
Visitors to the Baigou New Area Aerospace Hospital stand near the words "Emergency Clinic" in Baigou, in northern China's Hebei province on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. As China grapples with its first-ever wave of COVID mass infections, emergency wards in the towns and cities to Beijing's southwest are overwhelmed. Intensive care units are turning away ambulances, residents are driving sick relatives from hospital to hospital, and patients are lying on floors for a lack of space.
Uncredited - staff, APVisitors to the Baigou New Area Aerospace Hospital stand near the words "Emergency Clinic" in Baigou, in northern China's Hebei province on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. As China grapples with its first-ever wave of COVID mass infections, emergency wards in the towns and cities to Beijing's southwest are overwhelmed. Intensive care units are turning away ambulances, residents are driving sick relatives from hospital to hospital, and patients are lying on floors for a lack of space.
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Rapid rise of COVID-19 in China raises threat of new mutantUncredited - staff, AP
A hospital worker in protective gear disinfects the ward of an emergency department of Baigou New Area Aerospace Hospital in Baigou in northern China's Hebei province on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. As China grapples with its first-ever wave of COVID mass infections, emergency wards in the towns and cities to Beijing's southwest are overwhelmed. Intensive care units are turning away ambulances, residents are driving sick relatives from hospital to hospital, and patients are lying on floors for a lack of space.
Uncredited - staff, APA hospital worker in protective gear disinfects the ward of an emergency department of Baigou New Area Aerospace Hospital in Baigou in northern China's Hebei province on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. As China grapples with its first-ever wave of COVID mass infections, emergency wards in the towns and cities to Beijing's southwest are overwhelmed. Intensive care units are turning away ambulances, residents are driving sick relatives from hospital to hospital, and patients are lying on floors for a lack of space.
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Rapid rise of COVID-19 in China raises threat of new mutantDake Kang - staff, AP
A patient rests in a wheelchair at the emergency department of the Langfang No. 4 People's Hospital in Bazhou city in northern China's Hebei province on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. As China grapples with its first-ever wave of COVID mass infections, emergency wards in the towns and cities to Beijing's southwest are overwhelmed. Intensive care units are turning away ambulances, residents are driving sick relatives from hospital to hospital, and patients are lying on floors for a lack of space.
Dake Kang - staff, APA patient rests in a wheelchair at the emergency department of the Langfang No. 4 People's Hospital in Bazhou city in northern China's Hebei province on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. As China grapples with its first-ever wave of COVID mass infections, emergency wards in the towns and cities to Beijing's southwest are overwhelmed. Intensive care units are turning away ambulances, residents are driving sick relatives from hospital to hospital, and patients are lying on floors for a lack of space.
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Rapid rise of COVID-19 in China raises threat of new mutantDake Kang - staff, AP
Relatives gather near the beds of sickened patients at the emergency department of the Langfang No. 4 People's Hospital in Bazhou city in northern China's Hebei province on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. As China grapples with its first-ever wave of COVID mass infections, emergency wards in the towns and cities to Beijing's southwest are overwhelmed. Intensive care units are turning away ambulances, residents are driving sick relatives from hospital to hospital, and patients are lying on floors for a lack of space.
Dake Kang - staff, APRelatives gather near the beds of sickened patients at the emergency department of the Langfang No. 4 People's Hospital in Bazhou city in northern China's Hebei province on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. As China grapples with its first-ever wave of COVID mass infections, emergency wards in the towns and cities to Beijing's southwest are overwhelmed. Intensive care units are turning away ambulances, residents are driving sick relatives from hospital to hospital, and patients are lying on floors for a lack of space.
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Rapid rise of COVID-19 in China raises threat of new mutantUncredited - staff, AP
A hospital worker prepares to perform tests after placing electrodes to the chest of a man sprawled out on a stretcher outside the emergency ward at the Langfang No. 4 People's Hospital in Bazhou city in northern China's Hebei province on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. As China grapples with its first-ever wave of COVID mass infections, emergency wards in the towns and cities to Beijing's southwest are overwhelmed. Intensive care units are turning away ambulances, residents are driving sick relatives from hospital to hospital, and patients are lying on floors for a lack of space.
Uncredited - staff, APA hospital worker prepares to perform tests after placing electrodes to the chest of a man sprawled out on a stretcher outside the emergency ward at the Langfang No. 4 People's Hospital in Bazhou city in northern China's Hebei province on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. As China grapples with its first-ever wave of COVID mass infections, emergency wards in the towns and cities to Beijing's southwest are overwhelmed. Intensive care units are turning away ambulances, residents are driving sick relatives from hospital to hospital, and patients are lying on floors for a lack of space.
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Rapid rise of COVID-19 in China raises threat of new mutantUncredited - staff, AP
A sickened patient is moved onto a gurney at the emergency department of the Langfang No. 4 People's Hospital in Bazhou city in northern China's Hebei province on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. As China grapples with its first-ever wave of COVID mass infections, emergency wards in the towns and cities to Beijing's southwest are overwhelmed. Intensive care units are turning away ambulances, residents are driving sick relatives from hospital to hospital, and patients are lying on floors for a lack of space.
Uncredited - staff, APA sickened patient is moved onto a gurney at the emergency department of the Langfang No. 4 People's Hospital in Bazhou city in northern China's Hebei province on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. As China grapples with its first-ever wave of COVID mass infections, emergency wards in the towns and cities to Beijing's southwest are overwhelmed. Intensive care units are turning away ambulances, residents are driving sick relatives from hospital to hospital, and patients are lying on floors for a lack of space.
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Rapid rise of COVID-19 in China raises threat of new mutantDake Kang - staff, AP
Relatives attend to a sickened patient in a wheelchair at the emergency department of the Langfang No. 4 People's Hospital in Bazhou city in northern China's Hebei province on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. As China grapples with its first-ever wave of COVID mass infections, emergency wards in the towns and cities to Beijing's southwest are overwhelmed. Intensive care units are turning away ambulances, residents are driving sick relatives from hospital to hospital, and patients are lying on floors for a lack of space.
Dake Kang - staff, APRelatives attend to a sickened patient in a wheelchair at the emergency department of the Langfang No. 4 People's Hospital in Bazhou city in northern China's Hebei province on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. As China grapples with its first-ever wave of COVID mass infections, emergency wards in the towns and cities to Beijing's southwest are overwhelmed. Intensive care units are turning away ambulances, residents are driving sick relatives from hospital to hospital, and patients are lying on floors for a lack of space.
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Rapid rise of COVID-19 in China raises threat of new mutantUncredited - staff, AP
An ambulance prepares to transfer a patient in critical care to other hospitals due to overcapacity at the emergency department of the Langfang No. 4 People's Hospital in Bazhou city in northern China's Hebei province on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. As China grapples with its first-ever wave of COVID mass infections, emergency wards in the towns and cities to Beijing's southwest are overwhelmed. Intensive care units are turning away ambulances, residents are driving sick relatives from hospital to hospital, and patients are lying on floors for a lack of space.
Uncredited - staff, APAn ambulance prepares to transfer a patient in critical care to other hospitals due to overcapacity at the emergency department of the Langfang No. 4 People's Hospital in Bazhou city in northern China's Hebei province on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. As China grapples with its first-ever wave of COVID mass infections, emergency wards in the towns and cities to Beijing's southwest are overwhelmed. Intensive care units are turning away ambulances, residents are driving sick relatives from hospital to hospital, and patients are lying on floors for a lack of space.
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