Kovid-19: China registers new cases of omicron variant

Beijing | China on Monday reported new cases of the highly contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19, as the country experienced a number of outbreaks in less than a month since the Beijing Olympics.

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Since the onset of the epidemic, authorities have been applying the “Zero COVID” strategy, which will do everything possible to limit the appearance of new cases as much as possible.

However, there have been sporadic rebounds in recent months and the country is doubling its alert by the Winter Olympics (February 4-20).

In Zion (north), 13 million residents are in their third week of detention, a move that came after dozens of cases appeared in late December.

And since this weekend, the new outbreak in the large port city of Tianjin, 100 km southeast of Beijing, has alarmed authorities.

Several cases this weekend have been linked to the Omicron variant, which was first spotted in China last month in the same city. And 21 new Kovid cases were announced Monday in Tianjin, without knowing the variant currently involved.

While a massive screening of the population was taking place, about 14 million residents were asked to stay indoors.

From Sunday, residents can only leave the city with special authority and less than 48 hours of negative screening test, the town hall said. “The population should not leave Tianjin unless there is a compelling reason,” she said in a statement on Sunday.

All schools were closed and train services with Beijing were suspended.

Two Omicron cases of Tianjin outbreak were reported on Monday in the city of Anyang in central Henan province, about 400 km southwest. Locality announced in the background that it will screen its 5 million residents.

Sales of long-distance train and bus tickets from Anyang have been suspended and checkposts have been set up on all highways outside the city to curb the spread of the virus in the country.

China, although the first Kovid cases were discovered in Wuhan (middle) two years ago, has largely controlled the infection on its soil.

Since the spring of 2020 life has returned to almost normal and the country has officially recorded only two deaths in a year.

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