Tianjin, major gateway to Beijing, to test 15 million residents after 20 COVID-19 infections
Global Times
By Liu Caiyu Published: Jan 09, 2022 10:29 AM Updated: Jan 09, 2022 10:24 AM
North China's Tianjin Municipality, home to 15 million people and also a major gateway and "moat" to Beijing, rolled out massive nucleic acid testing on all its residents on Sunday morning after the city detected 20 COVID-19 infections in one day.
Experts said it's the first real battle against Omicron on the Chinese mainland as Omicron-infected domestically-transmitted cases were discovered in local communities for the first time.
To ensure the safety of residents and contain Omicron from further spreading, residents of the city are required to stay put and receive a test. The nucleic acid testing on all residents started on 7:00 am Sunday morning and is expected to complete within 24 hours, according to a notice from the city's anti-epidemic command center.
The health code of people who won't receive the test within 24 hours will be turned to orange. Residents who have been vaccinated for less than 48 hours will not participate in the test, the command center said.
The anti-epidemic command center said at an urgent meeting, participated by the city Party chief Li Hongzhong and mayor Liao Guoxun, on Saturday night that the massive testing is a concrete measure to fulfill the responsibility of Tianjin to be a "moat" of Beijing and contain the epidemic at the fastest speed and the lowest cost.
The test will support the city to have better understanding of the epidemic risk and ensure safety of lives and health of residents, the command center said.
Affected by the epidemic, subway lines one and six will be partially closed starting from Sunday. The Tianjin Binhai International Airport has cancelled 144 flights that were scheduled on the day.
Eighteen COVID-19 cases were detected on late Saturday following first two patients who had no travel history beyond the city. The two patients were infected with VOC/Omicron, a branch virus of BA.1, according to genome sequencing, said the Tianjin municipal health commission.
The two patients were in the same transmission chain, but it is different from to previous Omicron-infected imported cases that were detected in the city, the commission said.
Among the 20 infected people, 15 are children aged between 8 and 13.
Based on the patients and viral transmission chain, the newly added 18 infections have already spread the virus to three generations of people. Although the outbreak was detected on Saturday midnight, it probably has spread among the community for a certain period of time, Zhang Ying, a deputy director of the municipal health commission, said at a late press conference on Saturday night.
More positive infections are expected to be found, Zhang said.
A Beijing-based immunologist told the Global Times that it's the first real battle against Omicron on the Chinese mainland as Omicron-infected domestically-transmitted cases were discovered in local communities for the first time.
Huge uncertainties exist for the Tianjin outbreak as the source of infection remains unknown. If the Omicron virus has spread to three generations of people in the community, Tianjin's COVID-19 cases will increase rapidly and reach 100 soon, he said.
The immunologist warned of the risks that the Tianjin outbreak poses to Beijing and the upcoming Winter Olympics, because of a large number of commuters working and living in the two cities.
Epidemiological investigations showed care centers, students and parents of schools were major affected places in this outbreak.
As of Saturday night, Tianjin has put 75,680 people under control. Among 70 environment tests, 14 of which were positive and two were detected in elevators of residential building.
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