The scenario most feared by Chinese authorities has been confirmed, with a record of infection by the omicron variant of the new coronavirus in Beijing close to the opening of the Winter Olympic Games in the Chinese capital, which will be held between February 4 and 20. Within the Chinese government’s Covid zero policy, several severe measures are being taken to prevent new cases.
Last weekend, the Chinese capital recorded its first case of the variant, against which nearby cities such as Tianjin are already fighting through the adoption of total or selective confinement.
A commercial building in the west of the capital, where the infected woman works, was closed without warning and everyone inside is banned from leaving and undergoing mandatory Covid-19 tests. The same protocol was implemented in the residential complex where she lives. Both regions are in lockdown.
The Beijing Daily, the local state-run newspaper, reported that the woman had not come into contact with anyone else with a confirmed case and had not left the Chinese capital in the past 14 days.
Authorities raised the possibility that she had become infected by receiving foreign mail, a hypothesis already suggested by the Chinese in other situations, but that is considered unlikely by experts.
The newspaper published the woman’s travel history and a list of all the places she had been in the previous two weeks, which, according to CNN, led to tests being carried out on more than 16,000 people linked to those places – the results by while they were negative.
Other measures include canceling face-to-face classes in nearby districts, suspending international flights and access controls to Beijing: only people with a negative PCR can enter the city, and parts of China where cases have been detected can have their transport links to Beijing. capital canceled – as has already happened with Tianjin.
This Monday (17), the Organizing Committee of the Winter Olympic Games informed that the sale of tickets to the general public has been suspended, and that only “designated spectators” who comply with the “requirements of the Covid-19 pandemic prevention measures” will be able to attend the competitions.
The committee’s decision, which did not provide details on who the “designated spectators” would be, was based on “the protection of the health and safety of workers and the public”, the entity said in a statement. Organizers had already stated in September last year that no tickets would be sold to spectators outside of China.
The Games, which start on February 4, will be held under strict anti-Covid prevention measures: athletes, journalists and workers from abroad will remain in a “bubble”, isolated from the local population throughout their stay in the Asian country.
Last week, Chinese authorities barred all of Tianjin’s roughly 14 million people from leaving their homes until they were tested for Covid-19, after infections with the omicron variant were reported.
In recent weeks, China has imposed lockdowns on the cities of Anyang, with 5.5 million people, Xi’an, with 13 million, and Yuzhou, with 1.1 million, following outbreaks of Covid-19.
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