Tianjin toughens restrictions after detecting local Omicron cases

China is tightening pandemic controls over Tianjin, a city of 14m people near Beijing, as its zero-Covid-19 strategy is tested by the country's first discovery of community transmitted cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

Over the past day, Chinese authorities strengthened travel controls, closed schools and instituted a series of local lockdowns in the city about 120km southeast of the Chinese capital, state media reported.

Tianjin residents have been told not to leave the city and those who attempt to do so will require negative tests. The latest measures followed the launch on Sunday of a citywide testing campaign in response to at least two Omicron cases discovered a day earlier.

The infections marked the first community transmission of the highly infectious variant in the world’s most populous country. Tianjin is about 30 minutes by high-speed train from Beijing, and tens of thousands of people travel between the cities daily.

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The discovery of Omicron transmission inside China’s borders also comes amid a crisis in the central city of Xi’an, which has been under lockdown since December 22nd. Authorities have been criticised after residents in the city of 13m were left without access to medical resources and food.

One Beijing-based immunologist, who asked not to be named, said it was “unclear” how effective China’s vaccines would be in slowing or stopping the spread of Omicron.

Despite concerns over Xi’an, Beijing’s rigid controls under its zero-Covid strategy still appeared “the most effective approach” before more effective vaccines or treatments were available in China, the immunologist added.

The National Health Commission reported 199 new coronavirus cases in its latest update on Monday, including 99 locally transmitted cases, 23 of which were found in Tianjin. The commission reported 92 local cases on Sunday.

Two further Omicron cases were reported in Anyang, a city of more than 5m people in central China, one of which was potentially linked to a student who arrived from Tianjin, local media said.

The caseload is far smaller than many other countries grappling with outbreaks of the Omicron variant. But the confirmed arrival of Omicron poses a significant challenge for the government amid concerns over the efficacy of China-made vaccines.

The global attention to the outbreaks and response from the Chinese Communist party is also set to intensify in the coming weeks with the Winter Olympics scheduled to start in Beijing early next month. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2022