The China Post has ordered its employees to systematically disinfect shipments from abroad, the authorities raising the hypothesis of the arrival in the country of the Omicron strain on mail sent from Canada.
With less than three weeks before the Beijing Winter Olympics (February 4-20), authorities fear that their Zero Covid policy will be undermined by a series of limited outbreaks.
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The country where the pandemic was initially detected at the end of 2019 has largely stemmed the contagion but has been faced with sporadic outbreaks for several weeks.
The number of new daily cases in China, however, rarely exceeds the 200 mark. Last weekend, the city of Beijing reported the first case of the highly contagious Omicron variant in a person who had received a letter from Canada, on which traces of the virus were discovered.
Low risk of transmission on surfaces
As a result, the postal services have been ordered to disinfect “
as soon as possible
” letters and parcels from abroad. Employees in contact with these objects are also invited to receive a booster dose of anti-Covid vaccine. Citizens are called on to reduce their orders “
from countries and regions with a high risk of Covid-19
”, announced the Post Office in a notice. Domestic mail will now be sorted separately, to avoid any risk of contamination from international shipments.
While the origin of the coronavirus has not been determined, China leans towards the theory that the disease could have been introduced from abroad, in particular via frozen foods.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said it doubts such a possibility, noting that the risk of transmission of the virus via inanimate surfaces is low and decreases over time.