Omicron: kitchen supplier hit by Hangzhou outbreak as China pursues goods transmission theory
- 30 cases detected in the city since first case on Wednesday, with strain different to previous local or imported Omicron cases, say officials
- Some Welbilt employees attended a wedding banquet, at least seven positive cases were found among party guests
City authorities said the first case was found in a worker for Welbilt (China), an international supplier of food service equipment. The authorities said on Thursday that the strain was different to previous local or imported Omicron cases and categorised it as a new outbreak.
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They said four Omicron positive samples were found in unopened imported Welbilt goods, and genome sequencing showed they were closely related to a strain identified abroad in December.
Half of the 30 infected patients were employees of Welbilt, which has 240 staff. Some other positive cases came from restaurants and other shops near the company.
Five infected employees had attended an annual company event.
Several company employees had attended a wedding banquet and at least seven positive cases were found among the party guests.
Xia Shichang, vice-director of Zhejiang’s health commission, told state broadcaster CCTV that the first case in the outbreak was likely to have contracted the disease on January 19 and there could already have been three generations of infection within a week.
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The authorities have divided the city into zones and requested swab tests in high-risk areas.
China has been battling multiple outbreaks of the Omicron and Delta variants in recent weeks, including in Xian, Beijing, and Henan province. It has blamed international mail and imported frozen food for the spread of the virus.
In Beijing, four new Delta cases were reported in the 24 hours to 4pm on Friday, including in two workers at Xinanjiao cold storage.
