China says the first detected case of an Omicron variant in the country’s capital, Beijing, appeared in a letter sent from Canada in early January.
Read more: The Omigron case was discovered in Beijing three weeks before the Olympics
This was presented in the daily article Global Times, A spokesman for the Communist Party of China, quoted health officials in Beijing as saying.
“The patient, who was positively diagnosed with the Omicron variant on Saturday, received an international courier shipped from Canada on January 11 and transferred to Beijing via the US and Hong Kong’s Chinese territory,” it says. .
In a question paper published on Monday afternoon, traces of Omigron were found on the outer surface of the envelope, the inner walls and the letter in question.
Health officials checked all the letters in the same package and found traces of the virus in five of them. Eight people who were in contact with the letter were interrogated. Their test came back negative.
Authorities are pursuing 69 people who have been in close contact with the woman in the past two weeks, and more than 16,000 from the area. All results were negative.
According to the BBC, the case will further concern authorities in Beijing, who have asked people to stop bringing packages from outside the country.
Health Minister Jean-Yves Douglas, who was invited to comment on the Global Times’ claims, said he could not comment on the scientific veracity of the claim.
This is not the first time Omigron has entered China.
Cases have already been reported in Shanghai, Zhuhai and Zhangzhou in Guangdong province, and in Tianjin and Anyang in Henan province.
The delta variation and the recent eruptions of Omigran are causing concern in the country, which is set to host the Olympics in three weeks. In fact, public health has recognized an “unprecedented” peak since March 2020.
China is implementing a “COVID-zero” approach, which means imposing harsh prisons, screening entire cities and preventing the spread of the virus, but says it will do everything in its power to prevent the spread of the virus. Movement between affected areas.
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