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An explosion of Covid-19 cases in China could create a "potential breeding ground" for new variants to emerge, health experts have warned.

Antoine Flahault, director of the Institute of Global Health at the University of Geneva, told AFP news agency that each new infection increased the chance the virus would mutate.

"The fact that 1.4 billion people are suddenly exposed to SARS-CoV-2 obviously creates conditions prone to emerging variants," Flahault said, referring to the virus that causes the Covid-19 disease.

Bruno Lina, a virology professor at France's Lyon University, told the La Croix newspaper this week that China could become a "potential breeding ground for the virus".

Soumya Swaminathan, who served as the World Health Organization's chief scientist until November, said a large part of the Chinese population was vulnerable to infection in part because many elderly people had not been vaccinated or boosted.

"We need to keep a close watch on any emerging concerning variants," she told the website of the Indian Express newspaper.

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