The government in Beijing is trying to prevent the spread of the omicron variant in China as far as possible.
(Photo: AP)
Beijing The first case of the highly contagious Covid virus variant Omikron was reported in the Chinese capital Beijing over the weekend. Chinese authorities then published detailed information on where the person concerned works, where they live and which places they have visited in the past few days.
The population has been asked, under threat of penalties, to undergo Covid tests if they have also been in one of the places. According to its own statements, the health commission of the affected district of Haidian tested 13,000 people with 300 medical workers by Sunday noon who could potentially have come into contact with the infected person. So far, according to the Commission, all cases have been negative.
Less than three weeks before the start of the Winter Olympics, nervousness about the virus spreading further is mounting in Beijing. The Chinese government is pursuing a zero-case strategy that has been largely successful so far in the fight against the virus.
The number of new infections among the approximately 1.4 billion inhabitants has rarely been more than 100 per day nationwide in recent months. While omicron case numbers have skyrocketed in other parts of the world, just a few days ago China reported the first locally transmitted case of the highly contagious virus variant in the northeastern port city of Tianjin. Shortly thereafter, isolated omicron cases were also reported in the economic metropolis of Shanghai, the southern Chinese tech province of Guangdong and two other provinces.
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The fact that the virus variant has now also reached Beijing is problematic not only because of the outstanding political importance of the capital within China. The Winter Olympics are scheduled to begin on February 4 in the metropolis with a population of 21 million.
China is trying to contain the virus with strict measures
In order to prevent the population from being infected, the athletes, fellow travelers and journalists are kept separate from the rest of the population in closely separated areas. Most of the staff for the Winter Olympics is expected on Jan. 21, according to Chinese media reports. Twelve flights and around 200 people should then arrive in the capital.
In the past two years, China had increasingly sealed itself off from abroad to avoid contagion. On Friday, dozens of the already very few remaining international flight connections to the People’s Republic were canceled.
According to reports from the Chinese media, Beijing is also tightening its preventive measures. From January 22 to the end of March, all people entering or returning to Beijing must take a Covid test within 72 hours of arrival.
In order to get the virus outbreak under control in other parts of the country, local governments in the rest of the country had already resorted to draconian measures. The residents of the city of Xi’an in central China, which has a population of millions, have not been allowed to leave their homes since mid-December after an outbreak of the virus.
The measures also affect the country’s economy. According to their own statements, the car manufacturers Volkswagen and Toyota had to temporarily suspend their production in the port city of Tianjin, which was affected by omicron cases.
On Sunday, the number of registered Covid infections across China fell to a total of 65 cases compared to Saturday. China usually does not initially indicate which variant the virus belongs to.
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