Beijing reports 1st local case of Omicron weeks before Winter Olympics

The Chinese capital Beijing on Saturday reported its first locally transmitted infection of the highly transmissible variant of the Omicron coronavirus, according to state media, just weeks before the Winter Olympics.

Laboratory tests found “specific mutations of the Omicron variant” in the person, Pang Xinghuo, an official with the city’s disease control authority, told a news conference.

Authorities cordoned off the infected person’s residential complex and workplace and collected 2,430 samples for testing from people linked to the two sites, a Haidian district official said.

The detection of the Omicron variant in Beijing comes as cities across the country ramped up viral surveillance ahead of the Winter Olympics, which begin on February 4.

In addition to Beijing, China has reported locally transmitted infections of the Ômicron variant in at least four other provinces and municipalities: in the northern city of Tianjin; in the central province of Henan; in the southern province of Guangdong and in the northeast province of Liaoning. However, the total number of cases by Ômicron remains uncertain.

He Qinghua, a representative of the National Health Commission (NHC), said in an interview on Saturday that the Ômicron variant was also detected in Shanghai, without specifying the number of cases. It did not say whether the variant was found locally or among travelers from abroad.

He noted that 14 provincial areas in China detected the Ômicron variant in infected people who arrived from abroad, without naming the regions.

In a statement Saturday, the NHC reported 165 new confirmed coronavirus cases for January 14, up from 201 the day before. There were no new deaths, leaving the death toll at 4,636. As of January 14, mainland China had 104,745 confirmed cases.