(Beijing) The city of Anyang, which has a population of 5 million in central China, has in turn been placed in quarantine after the emergence of cases of COVID-19, including the Omicron strain.
Residents of the city of Henan Province are the third in the country to stay at home, after a similar measure taken last month in the northern metropolis of Xi’an.
China, which largely contained the epidemic from the beginning of 2020 after the appearance of the virus in the center of the country, follows a zero COVID-19 policy which is based on radical measures as soon as a few cases are detected.
This strategy is threatened by the outbreak observed in Xi’an, the most serious in terms of the number of cases since the spring of 2020, and by the appearance of the Omicron strain, which is particularly contagious.
The authorities are particularly on the alert as the Beijing Olympics approach (February 4 to 20).
In this context, the city of Anyang on Monday evening ordered its residents to stay in their homes and banned the circulation of private vehicles, the New China Agency reported.
Non-essential businesses have been closed and a general screening campaign has been launched to “prevent the spread of the Omicron strain”, according to the official news agency.
The city has recorded 84 contaminations since Saturday, including at least two cases of the new variant, linked to contaminations in the port metropolis of Tianjin (north).
This city bordering Beijing on Sunday prohibited its 14 million inhabitants from leaving municipal limits.
Several cities across the country are facing similar measures, but apart from Anyang and Xi’an, only another city in Henan, Yuzhou (population 1 million), imposes home confinement.
In total, China on Tuesday reported 157 new infections in the past 24 hours, including 60 imported cases. The official toll has barely exceeded 100,000 cases since the start of the pandemic, including 4,636 fatalities.
China does not count asymptomatic cases.