Beijing
\nFive million residents of a central Chinese city started home confinement Tuesday in a new lockdown to curb the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus, according to state media.
\nBeijing is on high alert for new outbreaks as it prepares to host the Winter Olympics next month, sticking to a \u201czero-Covid\u201d strategy of targeted lockdowns, border restrictions and lengthy quarantines.
\nWhile those measures have kept the number of new cases far lower than virus hotspots in the United States and Europe, Beijing is currently battling local flare-ups in multiple cities.
\nThe fast-spreading Omicron strain presents a fresh challenge, with two cases in Anyang — the newly locked down city in Henan province — linked to a growing infection cluster in the northern metropolis of Tianjin, some 400 kilometres (250 miles) away.
\nAuthorities in Anyang announced the lockdown late Monday, issuing a notice ordering residents not to leave their homes or drive cars on the roads, state news agency Xinhua reported.
\nAll non-essential businesses have been closed and a mass-testing drive has been launched \u201cto respond to the severe epidemic control situation and strictly prevent the spread of the Omicron virus outbreak\u201d, Xinhua reported.
\nThere were 58 new local infections reported in Anyang, state broadcaster CCTV said Tuesday, bringing the city\u2019s total caseload to 84 since Saturday.
\nIt was not immediately clear whether the new cases were tied to the Omicron variant.
\nThe city had already restricted outbound travel, which local officials said was to \u201censure that the outbreak does not spill over into outside areas\u201d.
\nAt least three cities in Henan are battling emerging outbreaks, with provincial capital Zhengzhou closing schools and kindergartens, and stopping restaurants from accepting dine-in customers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Beijing Five million residents of a central Chinese city started home confinement Tuesday in a new lockdown to curb the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus, according to state media. Beijing is on high alert for new outbreaks as it prepares to host the Winter Olympics next month, sticking to a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-238246","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n