New Omicron Variant Reaches China

The northern Chinese city of Hohhot is battling the country’s first outbreak of new omicron subvariant, BF.7, which is thought to be more transmissible and better able to evade the immune system than other strains.

Almost all of the nearly 700 local cases found Thursday in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region came from Hohhot, according to health authorities. The regional capital has reported more than 1,800 local infections since detecting a Covid case on Sept. 28 that was later confirmed to be the BF.7 subvariant.