BEIJING(Reuters) - The Chinese capital, Beijing, on Saturday reported its first locally transmitted infection of the highly transmissible variant of the coronavirus ómicron, according to state media, just a few weeks before the Winter Olympic Games.
State television reported Saturday that the new infection had been identified as the omicron strain.
Laboratory tests found "specific mutations of the omicron variant" in the person, Pang Xinghuo, an official with the city's disease control authority, said at a news conference.
Authorities sealed off the infected person's residential complex and workplace and collected 2,430 samples for testing from people linked to the two locations, a Haidian district official said.
The detection of the omicron variant in Beijing came as cities across the countryincreased viral surveillance ahead of the Winter Olympics, which begin on February 4.
Aside from Beijing, China has reported locally transmitted infections of the omicron variant in at least four other provinces and municipalities: in the northern city of Tianjin, the central province of Henan, the southern province of Guangdong and the northeastern province of Liaoning. However, the total number of omicron cases remains unclear.
He Qinghua, an official with the National Health Commission (NHC), said in a briefing on Saturday that the omicron variant was also detected in Shanghai, without specifying the number of cases. He did not say whether the variant had been found locally or among travelers from abroad.
He noted that 14 provincial areas of China had detected the omicron variant in infected people arriving from abroad, without naming the regions.
In a statement Saturday, the NHC reported 165 new confirmed coronavirus cases for Jan. 14, up from 201 the previous day. There were no new deaths, leaving the death toll at 4,636. As of January 14, mainland China had 104,745 confirmed cases.
Report by Beijing Correspondent and Andrew Galbraith in Shanghai, Edited in Spanish by Manuel Farías.
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