Covid-19 in China: 3 Omicron cases found in Shenzhen
- The cases of the new variant were among 5 positives among passengers who arrived in the southern city on a flight from Los Angeles on Wednesday
- Xian, the city at the centre of the country’s latest outbreak, recorded dozens more cases as one expert warned the situation may get worse before it gets better
Three Omicron cases were among five positive cases detected on a flight from Los Angeles that arrived in Shenzhen, which lies just across the border from Hong Kong, on Wednesday.
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The patients had already tested positive and been quarantined at a local hotel when it was confirmed to be the Omicron variant, which is spreading rapidly around the world, on Friday.
Earlier this month, Omicron cases were reported in a number of cities, including Tianjin, Changsha and Guangzhou. All were imported cases, but in Guangzhou there have also been local transmissions.
Cases in other cities have also been linked to the latest cluster in Xian, the capital of Shaanxi province, but experts warned that some of the transmission routes could not yet be determined.
The city reported 75 new cases on Friday, up from 49 new cases on Thursday, bringing the total number of Covid-19 cases in the latest outbreak to 330.
Xian has put tens of thousands of residents under quarantine and ordered a new round of mass testing.
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Zhang Boli, a Covid-19 specialist and president of the Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, warned the situation might get worse before it got better and said stringent preventive measures must remain in place.
“Generally we need about 20 days to make a judgment to see when the turning point could appear,” Zhang said.
“The outbreak and hidden transmission routes in Xian were due to negligence at the grass-roots level.
“The superspreader of this outbreak in Xian, or patient number two, remained asymptomatic for a while, and their wide travel radius caused many infections.”
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At least 50 new cases can be linked back to patient number two, who was confirmed on December 15, according to state media.
Zhang said the outbreak had reached its peak period and he was confident that it would be stopped eventually.
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Staff at the hotel became infected while disinfecting the rooms of passengers on a flight from Pakistan, but the authorities have been unable to establish a clear chain of transmission for some later cases.
Nationally, 140 new cases were reported on Friday, including 53 imported cases and 87 local cases.
