On Sunday, Chinese authorities began mass testing of residents in the city of Tianjin after 21 people tested positive for omicron. It reports among others Reuters, France 24 and Aftonbladet.
14 million inhabitants will now be tested for covid-19 in 48 hours.
According to Gu Qing, director of the Tianjin Municipal Health Commission, students, parents and a school staff member are among the omicron-infected.
Authorities have asked all residents of the northern Chinese port city to stay home on Monday, pending health personnel to pay home visits to all residents with coronation tests.
Full alarm after two cases of infection
Winter Olympics
The mass test, which will be conducted in the city in two days, is part of China’s plan to prevent the virus from spreading to other provinces, regions and cities, and especially to the capital Beijing, the government writes in a letter to the people of Tianjin on Monday. .
China is now tightening its already strict coronary restrictions, and the authorities are doing everything they can to prevent the spread of infection in the capital ahead of the Winter Olympics, which will be held in Beijing from 4 February.
“Residents should not leave Tianjin unless it is necessary to do so,” city officials said Sunday.
Tianjin is only 150 kilometers from the capital Beijing, and all trains from Tianjin to Beijing have now been canceled.
In order to be able to leave the city at all, one must have official permission from the employer or local authorities, in addition to referring to a negative coronate test taken at least 48 hours before departure, the statement says.
Schools and universities in Tianjin are closed, and border controls have been set up for cars wishing to enter the capital Beijing.
New variant discovered
Lockdown
Chinese authorities are already fighting several outbreaks – including in Xi’an where 13 million people are now in their third week of lockdown.
The provincial capital of Zhengzhou is also conducting mass testing, and will close schools from Monday to prevent infection.
The Omikron cases that were registered in Tianjin on Sunday are related to two cases that were registered on Monday in the city of Anyang, which is about 400 kilometers away.
The two local omikron cases in the city of Anyang are linked to a student who arrived in the city from Tianjin, according to a local newspaper in Anyang. As a result, the city, with 5.5 million inhabitants, canceled all bus services from Sunday.
Prior to the Tianjin and Anyang outbreak, China has registered several omicron cases among international travelers, and at least one local omicron case.
Hong Kong has also registered its first “infection cluster” of omicrons.
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