Coronavirus cases reported in more than 10 provinces across mainland China

There were four locally acquired cases in Beijing, all of whom had attended a training session in another province
Wuhan is again grappling with an outbreak, with another 10 Omicron infections reported – also linked to a training session

Coronavirus pandemic

Phoebe Zhang

Published: 7:54pm, 22 Feb 2022

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More than 10 provinces across mainland China have reported Covid-19 infections in the latest wave, with four local cases in the capital Beijing and 10 in Wuhan.

Beijing health authorities said the city’s new cases were all colleagues who had attended a training session in another province in the past week.

Strict travel rules imposed ahead of the Winter Olympics are still in place in Beijing. People from cities where new cases have been recorded cannot enter the city, and anyone else must show a negative Covid-19 test result from within the previous 48 hours.

Beijing’s last outbreak was in late January, just before the Games began, with daily cases reaching 20 at the peak on January 30.

It comes as the city is preparing to host both the Paralympic Winter Games and the National People’s Congress – the annual session of China’s legislature – from March 4.

In central Hubei province, Wuhan is again grappling with an outbreak. The city where the first coronavirus cases were detected in late 2019 has reported 14 Omicron infections this week – 10 of them on Tuesday.

The Wuhan government said all of the cases were among employees from the same company who had attended a training session in the city from Friday to Sunday. Sixty-six people were at the event and 24 of them had already left the city. The authorities said they were working with other provinces to handle the situation.

A test site in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. Authorities reported 20 new cases in the northern region. Photo: Getty Images

Daily cases continue to rise across the north and east of the country, with 20 infections reported in Inner Mongolia, six in Liaoning province, and 12 in Jiangsu as of midnight on Monday.

And as cases surge in neighbouring Hong Kong, the southern province of Guangdong has also recorded new infections.

Shenzhen had three new locally acquired cases as of midnight on Monday. Authorities in the city earlier said quarantine hotels were full to capacity, while other cities in Guangdong have offered rewards for tip-offs about people who cross the border illegally from Hong Kong.

On Tuesday, Shenzhen police said a Hong Kong truck driver had been detained after he failed to check in to a quarantine hotel – going to meet a mainland driver instead – after crossing the border. Restrictions have been imposed in the Shekou area where the pair met.

The Shenzhen health authorities have reported more than 100 cases among cross-border truck drivers this month.

There were a total of 138 cases reported across mainland China as of midnight on Monday, 59 of which were locally transmitted, the National Health Commission said.