[Epoch Times, January 11, 2022](Epoch Times reporter Xu Jian comprehensive report) Only a few weeks before the opening of the Winter Olympics, a variant of the Omicron virus broke out in mainland China. It was a nightmare for officials. Experts say it is impossible to clear before the Winter Olympics.
The Omicron variant spread from the northern port city of Tianjin to the central province of Henan. On January 9, Henan Province reported that there were two cases of infection with the “Omicron” variant strain in Anyang City, and the source of infection was located in Jinnan District, Tianjin. Tianjin had previously tested its population of 14 million because of two cases.
On Monday, Chinese authorities said there had been 97 new cases of local transmission in the past 24 hours, spread across multiple cities. Henan province has at least 30 cases, while Tianjin has reported at least 31 new cases, including 15 children between the ages of 5 and 15. Because the CCP has always concealed the epidemic, the outside world believes that the real number of infected people is higher.
Lu media “First Finance and Economics” said that epidemic-affected cities such as Henan Province have entered a “two-line battle” situation, not only to face the “delta” mutant in Zhengzhou and Yuzhou, but also to face the “Omicorong” mutant in Anyang City. strains.
Tianjin is just 80 miles southeast of Beijing, which is less than 30 minutes away by high-speed rail.
Tianjin party secretary Li Hongzhong is seen as an official who actively flattered Xi, and the local government held a video conference at 1 a.m. on Sunday, saying it would take “resolute measures.”
This means that personnel from all party and government organs, state-owned enterprises and institutions in Tianjin are not allowed to leave Tianjin, and checkpoints are set up at airports, expressways, railway stations, ports and other places.
Tianjin has tightened controls on the movement of people, requiring residents to obtain approval from employers or community authorities to leave, with 75,680 people under quarantine as of Saturday night, according to the Communist Party media Global Times. Metro lines have been closed and about 150 flights have been reported to have been cancelled. Elementary and secondary schools and university campuses have been closed.
As of 2020, an estimated 100,000 people are regularly commuting to work between the two cities, Beijing and Tianjin, according to state media.
CNN quoted Jin Dongyan, a virologist at the University of Hong Kong, as saying: “The local epidemic is breaking out one after another, and it is impossible for China (the CCP) to zero cases before the Winter Olympics.”
“The only thing Beijing can do is learn from the experience of the Tokyo Summer Olympics and host the Olympics while doing community transmission across the country,” he said.
In a statement on Sunday, the Beijing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised Beijing residents not to travel to Tianjin, Tianjin residents not to travel to the capital, and commuters between the two cities to work from home. Train tickets from Tianjin to Beijing on Sunday night were no longer available online.
In Beijing, temperature checks and QR code detection have been strengthened to control and inspect transportation hubs, schools and residents. The local government has also warned of penalties for those who conceal their infection or fail to adequately fight the epidemic.
Beijing has also urged more than 20 million residents to celebrate the New Year there, and Beijing’s traffic management authorities have asked people to stay away from special vehicles used to transport athletes.
With the Winter Olympics approaching, the pressure on the authorities is growing, and the Games, which start on February 4, will be held in a “closed loop” state. This means that venues may only allow limited audience access, overseas audiences will not be allowed to enter China, and personnel participating in the Olympics should avoid contact with people “outside the circle”.
Editor in charge: Lin Yan#
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