Omicron outbreak in China flares massive testing and lockdowns while Tianjin ordered a second round of COVID-19 testing on all 14 million residents.
The northern Chinese city of Tianjin ordered a second round of COVID-19 testing on all 14 million residents Wednesday following the discovery of dozens of cases of the Omicron variant, AP reported. Millions more are under lockdown in other Chinese cities under a strict zero-COVID strategy as reported by Wall Street Journal.
The restrictions have led to a shutdown at main manufacturers, bottlenecks at ports, and a short supply of workers, sparking fears that the disruptions will spread to the global economy, WSJ reported.
Millions more Chinese people were ordered into lockdown to fight COVID outbreaks
Omicron cases prompt tough measures in Anyang, a city of five million, as unease increases ahead of Winter Olympics. Hong Kong has banned transit passengers from 150 places as China continues to battle outbreaks across several provinces a few weeks before the Winter Olympics.
China’s national health commission reported 110 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases for Monday, including 87 in Henan province, 13 in Shaanxi, and 10 in Tianjin.
The cases in Henan, which include the highly transmissible Omicron variant that led to the lockdown of five million residents in the city of Anyang on Monday evening. Anyang recorded 58 of the 87 Henan cases. At least two Omicron cases have been confirmed in the city in recent days, linked to an outbreak in Tianjin, about 500km away.
Anyang residents have been ordered into their homes and banned from driving on the roads, according to the state news agency Xinhua. Non-essential businesses have been closed down. Also in Henan, Zhengzhou city has closed schools and kindergartens and barred in-restaurant dining, while Yuzhou remains in lockdown.
Xi’an city in northern China is in its third week of strict lockdown, while Shenzhen in the south has implemented targeted lockdowns of some housing compounds and launched a mass testing drive.
Across numerous Chinese cities, public and long-distance transport have been lowered or suspended, including multiple flights from the US and New Delhi.
As seen in the closedown of Wuhan, China has a knack for controlling COVID, but how well will it be controlled with the Winter Olympics?