China reports first community spread of Omicron variant

Tianjin [China], January 10 : China has reported its first community spread Omicron cases, with two people confirmed with the coronavirus variant in Tianjin city, a Singapore-based newspaper The Strait Times stated citing local media reports.
Port city Tianjin has begun mass-testing its 14 million residents following its first community-spread Omicron cases on January 9.
The confirmed Omicron cases belong to a cluster of 20 children and adults at an after-school care centre in Tianjin, which borders Beijing, the capital city, The Strait Times reported.
They include 15 students aged between eight and 13, a staff member at the centre and four parents.
The Omicron patients are a 10-year-old student and the staff member, who is a 29-year-old woman. Neither have travelled out of the city in the past 14 days, the reports added, as per The Strait Times.
The mass testing, which started on Sunday, is expected to end by Monday.
Beijing has also been on high alert by making it mandatory for anyone entering the city to undergo COVID-19 testing and allowing only fully vaccinated individuals in for certain events as it prepares to host the Winter Olympics on February 4.
Xi'an, the provincial capital of Shaanxi in northern China, has reported more than 1,900 cases in its latest flare-up. The city of 13 million people have also been under a strict lockdown for weeks, as per the publication.
On Sunday, mainland China reported 92 new COVID-19 cases, with 56 of them from Henan, 30 from Shaanxi, three in Tianjin, two in Zhejiang in south-eastern China and one in Guangdong province in the south, The Strait Times reported.