COVID-19 case in Tianjin similar to strain in North America

The type of the novel coronavirus of the latest local COVID-19 case in Tianjin was highly similar to the strain that spread in North America from March to June, local government said on Tuesday morning.

It is Branch II (North American branch) of the European L genotype.

A 38-year-old man, who works on a loading dock at the cold storage company, was confirmed as the 138th local COVID-19 case on Sunday.

On Sunday, the city's disease control and prevention center started analysis based on the respiratory specimens of the case in Tianjin and the relevant cold storage environment. Experts got the results on Monday.

He tested positive on Sunday after he was found to have handled a shipment of frozen pork on Wednesday.

Samples of the outer packing of the pork, which arrived in Tianjin on Oct 19 from Germany, tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday after being sent to Dezhou, Shandong province, triggering a test of its contact.

On Monday afternoon, the city reported a new asymptomatic case of COVID-19, a 47-year-old male driver who drove to the company and loaded frozen food on Nov 5.