Port city of Tianjin
City in China tests 15 million people – because of 20 corona infections
In Tianjin, a large port city in China, the mass tests for the around 15 million inhabitants began on Sunday
© Stringer / AFP
After the first local omicron cases occurred in China, the city of Tianjin ordered mass tests for the entire population. Because 20 corona infections have been identified since Friday, 15 million people now have to be tested.
15 million people have to undergo a mass test after a group of 20 children and adults tested positive for COVID-19 in the Chinese port city of Tianjin near Beijing on Friday, including at least two with the Omicron variant.
According to the Associated Press news agency, the infected are 15 students aged eight to 13, a kindergarten employee and four parents. The citywide tests are expected to be completed in two days.
The first two cases confirmed in Tianjin are a 10-year-old girl and a 29-year-old woman who works in an after-school care center. Both were infected with the Omicron variant. In subsequent tests by close contacts, 18 other people tested positive and 767 negative by Saturday evening.
The first Omicron cases in China were travelers returning home
Epidemiologists told the state newspaper Global Times that this was the first real battle against the new virus variant in mainland China, as Omicron infected people were discovered in local communities for the first time. They also warned of the great uncertainty and high likelihood of the disease spreading as the source of the outbreak remains unknown. However, the epidemiologists assured the public that the outbreak can be contained before the Chinese Spring Festival, which is three weeks from now, provided the causes are investigated in a timely manner and effective measures are taken.
Although two Omikron cases had already been reported in China in December, they were returnees who were in quarantine in Tianjin and the southern Chinese metropolis of Guangzhou.
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China has stepped up its zero tolerance strategy with regard to the coronavirus in the run-up to the Winter Olympics, which will open in Beijing on February 4. The Chinese capital is 115 kilometers (70 miles) northwest of Tianjin and is connected by a high-speed rail link that takes less than an hour.
Although the country has largely had the pandemic under control for more than a year, observers believe that if the omicron variant spreads it will be much more difficult for China to keep the number of infections nationwide as low as before. There are also indications that the Chinese vaccines offer less protection against the new virus variant than Western preparations. Nationwide, China reported 92 new local corona infections on Sunday.
Sources: AP, “Global Times”, DPA