The variant Omicron – now present everywhere in the world – comes to Beijing three weeks after the start of the Winter Olympics, while China is grappling with various Covid-19 outbreaks. The first case of the Sars Cov 2 mutation, first detected in South Africa and Botswana, was discovered in Haidian district, known for its many technology company headquarters: Pang Xinghuo, a municipality official, explained that a first test cycle in the residential complex e in the office building of the infected person. In recent weeks, the capital has urged residents, in order to reduce the risk of contagion, to avoid unnecessary travel and not to leave the city even for the upcoming Lunar New Year.
The announcement of the health authorities of the capital came the day after travel restrictions imposed by the southern city of Zhuhai, near Macau, on residents after mass tests revealed seven infections, of which one confirmed and six asymptomatic. In Zhuhai, Guangdong, they were launched yesterday mass testing for 2.4 million inhabitants after a Covid case it was detected in nearby Zhongshan earlier in the week. On Thursday, commercial activities including beauty salons, game rooms, gyms and cinemas were ordered to close, with the suspension of public bus lines in some parts of the city.
The Omicron variant tested the ‘zero tolerance’ strategy espoused by the Chinese leadership: the first internal outbreak recently appeared in Tianjin, 150 kilometers from Beijing, before spreading to other parts of the country, including Dalian, Liaoning, and in Anyang, Henan. National Health Commission spokesman Mi Feng explained that the country has faced a “double challenge” from both initial strain of the virus than from the stump Delta and Omicron. Yesterday, according to the Commission updates, 165 cases of Covid were recorded in the country, of which 104 transmitted locally and 61 imported. Among the internal ones, 52 refer to Henan, 39 to Tianjin, 8 to Guangdong, 4 to Shaanxi and one to Zhejiang.