Covid-19 in China: cases continue to fall as Tianjin says Omicron outbreak is under control
- The country has adopted strict measures to curb the outbreak in the run-up to the Winter Olympics and Lunar New Year
- After a warning that post could spread the virus, Guangzhou tells people who received international mail to get tested
On Wednesday, the total number of local symptomatic cases dropped to 43 – compared with 55 on Tuesday and 127 on Monday – with two asymptomatic cases. There were also 23 imported symptomatic cases and 26 asymptomatic imports.
Beijing records 5 new Covid-19 cases as Winter Games loom
Henan province, which is battling both the Omicron and Delta variants, saw the number of local cases fall from 33 on Tuesday to 24 the following day.
Beijing, which is on high alert before the opening of the Winter Olympics early next month, reported three symptomatic cases and two asymptomatic cases, taking the total number of infections in the current outbreak to nine.
Beijing has announced extreme measures for the Games, which aim to completely segregate Olympic volunteers, athletes and officials from the public.
On Thursday, Liu Shu, deputy director of the Beijing 2022 organising committee’s transport department, told state news agency Xinhua that as a further precaution, passengers in designated Olympic vehicles will not be allowed to get out before they reach their destinations.
China Science Daily has reported the Winter Olympic venues have been fitted with equipment designed by engineers from Tsinghua and Peking Universities and the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences to collect aerosols for testing.
Chinese embassy in Canada urges travellers to follow self-isolation rules
Beijing and many other parts of China have also stepped up disinfection of international mail after a controversial claim by the Beijing Centre for Disease Control and Prevention that a postal delivery from Canada may have infected someone in the Chinese capital four days later.
The authorities in the southern city of Guangzhou have now ordered all residents who received international mail or packages between Monday and Wednesday to take a swab test.
Those affected will be sent a text message from the local centre for disease control reminding them to take the test.
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Beijing records first local case of Omicron ahead of Winter Olympics and Lunar New Year
Meanwhile, the State Council, China’s cabinet, issued a circular on dealing with international visitors in future, which included real-name registration for tourist attractions and vaccine requirements.
It did not give a timetable for introducing the measures and did not give any indication that China would relax its strict quarantine measures or other requirements for all incoming travellers.
