BEIJING, Jan. 17 (BNA): Several Chinese cities are on high alert for COVID-19 with the start of the Lunar New Year holiday travel season on Monday, requiring travelers to report their flights days before their arrival, as the Omicron variant arrived To more regions including Beijing.
Authorities have warned that highly contagious Omicron increases the risk of transmission of COVID-19 as hundreds of millions of people travel around China to celebrate the Lunar New Year on February 1.
Cities such as Luoyang in central China and Jieyang in the south said on Sunday that travelers should inform communities, employers or hotels of their flights three days in advance of their arrival.
The southwestern city of Yulin said Saturday that those wishing to enter must fill out an online form, including their health credentials and flight details, a day in advance.
Over the weekend, the capital, Beijing, and Shenzhen, the southern tech hub, both detected a locally transmitted Omicron case.
Pang Xinghu, an official with the city’s disease control authority, said on Monday that the possibility of Omicron’s case in Beijing being infected through imported goods could not be ruled out.
Li Ang, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Health Commission, said a local hospital had received nine Omicron infections, and six were still being treated. He did not say when the infection arrived or why it was not detected earlier.
On Monday, state TV said Meizhou City, Guangdong Province, had found one omicron infection linked to the outbreak in Zhuhai.
So far, at least five provinces and municipalities have reported local Omicron infections, while 14 regional regions have found the disparity between travelers from abroad.
China has so far shown no strong sign of rapidly changing its guidelines for containing any local infection, despite a high vaccination rate of 86.6%. The strategy has become more urgent in the run-up to the Winter Olympics, which will be held in Beijing and neighboring Hebei Province from February 4.
Several local governments have already advised residents not to leave the city on non-essential trips during the holiday, while dozens of international and domestic flights have been suspended.
China’s aviation regulator said on Monday it was suspending two flights from the United States due to cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of canceled flights this year from the country, where Omicron is spreading, to 76.
Today, Monday, official data showed that China reported 163 locally transmitted infections that showed confirmed symptoms on Sunday, up from 65 the previous day.
The increase in infections on Sunday was mainly driven by more cases in the cities of Tianjin and Anyang, where Omicron was found in local clusters.
Tianjin and Anyang have reported just over 600 local asymptomatic infections from the current outbreaks, which is smaller than many overseas gatherings, but authorities still have limited movement within cities and trips abroad.
HF