Covid-19 in China: Dozens more infections in Inner Mongolia as country records 75 cases

Other new cases were recorded in Heilongjiang, Hebei, Yunnan and Guangdong provinces

The country is one of the few sticking to a zero-tolerance strategy as it gears up for the Beijing Winter Olympics

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A medical worker pictured at a sampling site in Manzhouli, Inner Mongolia. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 4:41pm, 4 Dec 2021

Mainland China reported 75 new locally transmitted Covid-19 cases on Friday, including 61 new cases concentrated in Inner Mongolia, as the country continued to battle to keep the pandemic under control.

The National Health Commission said in its daily report on Saturday that Heilongjiang province reported five new cases; Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province, reported four cases; Yunnan province reported four cases and Guangdong one.

Fifteen new imported cases were also reported nationwide.

Manzhouli, the city on the border with Russia at the epicentre of the current outbreak, accounted for 58 of Inner Mongolia’s new cases on Friday and has started its seventh round of mass testing.

Beijing’s most recent infection, a locally transmitted case reported on Thursday, can also be traced back to the Inner Mongolia cluster.

Following the emergence of the potentially more infectious Omicron variant, leading Chinese experts said last week that the country has no plans to further tighten its border restrictions because it already has strict measures in place, including testing and mandatory quarantine.

China has yet to detect the Omicron variant, but the authorities are scrambling to keep the situation under control as the country prepares for the Beijing Winter Olympics in February.