China's Covid Tsunami Could Spark a Dangerous New Variant That Infects the World

TrackingChina is closely watching omicron subvariants circulating in the country, Xu Wenbo, director at the National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, said Dec. 20 at a briefing in Beijing. “This will allow us to monitor in real-time how omicron subvariants are circulating in China and their makeup,” he said. China Confirms Change to Covid Deaths as Doubts on Data GrowDiverging PathsThere are two paths the virus could take in China. “With respect to new dangerous variants emerging from China, I’m not particularly concerned right now,” he said. To Catch a KillerYet the global pullback from sequencing Covid could mean a new, possibly dangerous variant evades detection until it’s spreading widely.