China: Case record three weeks before the start of the Winter Olympics

The number of new cases of covid-19 in China has reached its highest point since March 2020, as Beijing seeks to eliminate the Omicron variant of the coronavirus three weeks before hosting the Winter Olympics.

A total of 223 new cases of covid-19 have been identified in China today, including 80 in the city of Tianjin, which has been hit by an epidemic, and nine others, including one in Omicron, Canton, in the south of the country.

Sixty-eight other new infections have been reported in the central province of Henan, where partial lockdown measures have been put in place and a massive test campaign has been launched for many millions of residents.

In Zhuhai, on the border with Macao, residents have been instructed to avoid traveling outside the city after a few cases of Omicron were detected, and a test campaign for all residents begins today. Schools closed.

Meanwhile in the historic city of Xi’an in northern China, the number of new cases of covid-19 has begun to fall sharply after a month of lockdown.

Also today, 60 new cases were reported, despite China maintaining strict entry controls, including a reduction in the number of flights and a policy base that cuts off routes through which many Covid-19 cases are imported into the country. China.

Athletes and national teams have already begun arriving in Beijing for the Winter Olympics and are immediately entering a tightly controlled bubble that completely separates them from the rest of the population.

Authorities tightened regulations for those arriving in the Chinese capital from other parts of the country after a case of Omicron was detected in Beijing over the weekend.

Now to enter Beijing requires a negative coronavirus test before starting the trip and another test as soon as you arrive in the city. Beijing has also been advised not to leave the city in anticipation of the Lunar New Year holidays.

China, where the new coronavirus first appeared at the end of 2019, is pursuing a zero-tolerance policy towards covid-19.

SOURCE: AMPE