(ANSA) - BEIJING, JANUARY 17 - The number of new cases of Covid-19 in China has reached 223, the highest level of March 2020, amid efforts to eliminate the highly transmissible Omicron variant less than three weeks before the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022.
According to the updates of the Sanitarian Commission, among the 163 internal infections recorded yesterday, another 80 relate to Tianjin, the first Omicron outbreak in the country, and another 9 to the manufacturing hub of Guangdong. A local case of Omicron was detected over the weekend in Beijing, prompting the authorities to tighten the rules for accessing the capital from other parts of China.
The country, which first registered Covid-19, has followed the strict 'zero tolerance' policy, keeping strict border control, despite the rest of the world having started a reopening.
The approach has come under pressure in recent weeks with more hearths across the dry country of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, whose opening is set for February 4.
(HANDLE).