Genome sequencing of the virus found that it belongs to the same transmission chain as the Tianjin outbreak, according to Henan health authorities. A university student who returned to Anyang from Tianjin on December 28 is believed to have brought back the virus — suggesting the variant has already been spreading in Tianjin for nearly two weeks, at the least.
That is particularly worrying news to officials in Beijing, which is fewer than 30 minutes away from Tianjin by high-speed rail.
In recent months, Chinese authorities have imposed ever more stringent restrictions to curb local Covid flare-ups as Beijing prepares for the Winter Olympics. An Omicron outbreak on the doorstep of the capital just weeks before the Games kick off on February 4 represents something of a nightmare scenario for officials — who are now likely to ramp up efforts to protect Beijing.
“It is impossible for China to return cases to zero before the Winter Olympics, because local outbreaks are springing up one after another,” said Jin Dongyan, a virologist at the University of Hong Kong.
“The only thing Beijing can do is to learn from the experience of the Tokyo Summer Games and hold the Olympics while community transmission is going on in the country,” he said, noting that the event will be held within a tightly-sealed bubble isolated from the local community anyway.
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