Omicron scare: China locks down Tianjin after new variant outbreak near Olympics site

China on Sunday scrambled to impose a strict lockdown on the major port city of Tianjin after the first outbreak of the new COVID variant, Omicron, was detected. The cluster outbreak comes just a month before Beijing is set to host the Winter Olympics 2022 nearby the city where the Omicron outbreak has occurred. This brings the focus back on the safety of the athletes amid the spread of the highly contagious variant worldwide, and whether Beijing shall still continue to hold the games. 

Tokyo’s 2020 Olympics games had similarly drawn widespread criticism as the Japanese government had held the event despite the worsening coronavirus crisis on July 23. More than 300,000 citizens, who expressed anger at the then Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s decision, signed a petition asking him to cancel the Games. The Japanese leader later struggled with low public approval ratings over his handling of the pandemic and condemnation for pressing ahead with holding the Olympic Games in Tokyo. 

Omicron outbreak close to Beijing where Olympics will be held

China on Sunday detected Omicron outbreak close to the capital Beijing where the Olympics will be held. Health authorities sprang into action as they conducted the mass testing of all its 14 million residents in the city of Tianjin. A strict lockdown forbade people from stepping out of their homes, except for only essential services. The Chinese health authorities imposed three levels of restrictions, that involved a strict lockdown across several areas where only one family member was legally permitted to leave to buy groceries every alternate day only. 

The Chinese government instated sweeping measures, halting commute, and suspending public transit including all the buses and trains from Tianjin to Beijing to contain the fast-spreading Omicron. No one was allowed to leave the city. Associated Press reports that the Omicron outbreak was detected among the cluster of 20 children and adults who had been diagnosed positive to COVID-19. 

In China, 20 people had tested positive as of on Monday with the Omicron variant, and that pushed the communist country’s toll to 40. China has been locking down the cities similar to the first wave of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in 2020 demonstrating its zero-tolerance strategy that limited people’s movement. The country has been vigilant due to the upcoming Olympics games which will open on February 4 this year just 70 miles northwest of Tianjin. Lockdowns are also imposed in two other cities near the site of the Olympics in Xi’an and Yuzhou where several large Delta variant outbreaks have occurred. 

Residents in both cities have been under total lockdown for more than two weeks, and have been asked to stay at home. Yuzhou is a city of about 1.1 million in the  Henan province that turned into the COVID-19 epicentre last year. Of the total 60 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported on Monday in Henan, two were of Omicron that rattled the Chinese authorities. A dozen Omicron cases have been reported in China mostly among the overseas returnee from abroad.