Beijing Closes Temples Due To Omicron Case Weeks Before Winter Olympics
NDTV
On Saturday, Beijing reported its first local Omicron infection -- involving a person who visited multiple malls and restaurants in the previous 14 days -- amid China's zero-Covid policy efforts as the Beijing Winter Olympics inch closer.
China on Sunday reported 65 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases for Jan. 15, including the first Omicron case in Beijing, just weeks from the February 4 start of the city's Winter Olympic Games and the country's Lunar New Year holiday.
That was down from 104 comparable cases a day earlier, as the outbreak in the northwestern city of Xian winds down after strict lockdowns. But the highly transmissible Omicron variant has been detected in at least five provinces and municipalities, prompting cities to impose curbs to stop its spread and threatening to further undercut slowing economic growth.
On Saturday, the capital Beijing reported the first local infection of the Omicron variant, involving a person who had visited multiple malls and restaurants in the previous 14 days. The person had not left the city since the start of this year.
China has not said how many Omicron cases it has detected in total.
