New COVID Variant May Be Loose in China: Immunologically Suppressed Americans at Risk, Experts Warn

Medical workers wear PPE as they arrive with a patient on a stretcher at a fever clinic in Beijing, China, on Dec. 9, 2022. As part of a 10 point directive, China’s government announced Wednesday that people with COVID-19 who have mild or no symptoms will be permitted to quarantine at home instead of at a government facility, testing requirements are reduced, people are permitted to buy over the counter medications, and local officials can no longer lock down entire neighborhoods or cities, a major shift in its zero COVID policy. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Experts predict that a new strain of COVID-19 may be spreading throughout China, which may pose a serious risk to immunologically suppressed Americans.

Chen Erzhen, vice president at Ruijin Hospital and a member of Shanghai’s COVID-19 expert advisory panel, recently admitted that “the spread of the epidemic in Shanghai is very wide, and it may have reached 70 percent of the population.” In response, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) imposed a new travel mandate affecting travelers from China, requiring passengers 2 years and older—regardless of nationality or vaccination status—to produce a negative COVID-19 test before they are allowed to board the plane. Those who tested positive for the virus 10 days before flying can provide proof of recovery from the virus instead of the test.