Risk of a dangerous new Covid variant in China is ‘quite low,’ U.S. health expert says

Chris Murray is the director of a health research center in Seattle.

As the U.S. health officials warned this week about the chance of a new Covid variant emerging in China, his comments on CNBC came as well.

There were billions of omicron infections worldwide this year, but no new Covid variant has emerged, according to Murray.

There is a low risk that there is a dangerous new variant in China. A new variant to replace omicron would need some very special characteristics, according to him.

More than a year ago, the variant was found in South Africa. When Covid first appeared in China, it caused less severe disease than Omicron.

China's Covid wave this month is affecting a population of over one billion people who have never been exposed to the disease before. Locals are able to get domestic made vaccines.

Beijing relaxed restrictions related to Covid. The authorities said on Monday that they would resume passport processing for Chinese citizens who want to travel abroad for tourism in January.

The U.S., Japan and a few other countries have introduced new testing requirements for travelers from China.

A travel ban would not make sense and he wouldn't put in testing requirements.

There is an argument that we need more transparency in China.

He said that the first sign of a new variant is a change in the hospitalization or death rate associated with Covid.

China's National Health Commission will stop releasing daily information on Covid infections. The daily reports from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention only show a small number of deaths and thousands of Covid infections. In China,vid testing is not required.

The director of China's disease control center held online meetings with his counterpart in the U.S. and the head of the U.K. health security agency, according to releases on China's disease control center website.

Murray warned that the theory thatviruses adapt to keep their hosts alive is not realistic.

Murray said that genetic research shows that it is possible to cause more severe diseases. I don't think it's a good idea to assume that all the variations are going to be the same.

The risk of organ failure and death was found in a study published in Nature Medicine.