No mutated coronavirus found in China

Disease control and prevention workers collect samples from frozen products in Tianjin's Nankai district on Nov 9, 2020. [Photo/China Daily]

No mutated novel coronavirus has been found in incoming travelers or imported goods arriving in China, Feng Zijian, deputy director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Monday evening.

Genomic sequences of strains of the virus that infected travelers coming from overseas or contaminated imports arriving in the country have shown no trace of the mutated virus circulating overseas, he said during an interview with China Central Television.

China has taken a series of preventive measures against rising risks of infections coming from overseas and is capable of stamping out local transmission, he added.

Feng said research is underway to determine steps needed to fend off the mutated strain of virus that is spreading in the United Kingdom.

The UK has imposed new lockdown and closed its borders this week amid the spread of a mutated form of virus that is believed to be more contagious.