Status: 09.01.2022 09:47 a.m.
In just under four weeks, the Olympic Winter Games will begin in Beijing under high security precautions. The first local Omicron cases in China have now been reported in the neighboring city of Tianjin. The authorities respond with mass tests.
In light of the first local omicron cases in China, the northeastern city of Tianjin has ordered mass tests for the entire population. While the state broadcaster CCTV initially reported two Omikron cases in the city, the state newspaper “Global Times” has already reported 20 corona infections, but left it open as to whether they were all of the Omikron variant. The tests started on Sunday should be completed within two days.
Tianjin is in the “first real battle against Omikron in mainland China,” the newspaper quoted an expert as saying. Although two Omicron cases were reported in China in December, these were returnees who were in quarantine in Tianjin and the southern Chinese metropolis of Guangzhou.
Olympic “bubble” in danger?
The 15 million metropolis of Tianjin is 115 kilometers from Beijing and is connected to the capital by a high-speed train that takes less than an hour to get there.
The Winter Olympics are slated to begin in Beijing on February 4th in a few weeks. Athletes and other participants in the Games should only be allowed to move in Beijing in a sealed “bubble” to prevent the virus from being introduced.
Lockdown in multiple cities
China, which has a strict zero-covid policy, has largely had the virus under control for more than a year. Life and the economy have long since normalized. However, there are always local outbreaks.
The central Chinese city of Xi’an (Zhejiang Province) has therefore been in a strict lockdown for more than two weeks. People are only allowed to leave their apartments there in absolute exceptions. Henan province is also fighting a new wave of corona. Three infections have also been reported in the southern Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen since Friday.
Omikron versus zero covid policy
Some observers believe that if the more contagious omicron variant spreads, it will be much more difficult for China to keep the number of infections nationwide as low as it has been up to now. There are also indications that the Chinese vaccines have less protection against omicrons than western preparations. Nationwide, China reported 92 new local corona infections on Sunday.