China faces omicron test weeks ahead of Beijing Olympics

© Provided by Associated Press People wearing face masks to help protect against the coronavirus look at a display of the Winter Paralympic mascot Shuey Rhon Rhon, left, and Winter Olympic mascot Bing Dwen Dwen near the Olympic Green in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022. Just weeks before hosting the Beijing Winter Olympics, China is battling multiple coronavirus outbreaks in half a dozen cities, with the one closest to the capital driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

© Provided by Associated Press A worker wearing a protective suit takes a swab for a COVID-19 test at a community testing site in northern China’s Tianjin Municipality, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. Most access to a major city adjacent to Beijing was suspended Thursday as the government tried to contain an outbreak of the coronavirus’s easily transmitted omicron variant ahead of next month’s Winter Olympics in the Chinese capital. (Chinatopix via AP)

© Provided by Associated Press FILE – In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, a volunteer at left receives daily necessities on behalf of residents under home quarantine at the fence to a community in Yanta District of Xi’an, capital of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, Jan. 12, 2022. Just weeks before hosting the Beijing Winter Olympics, China is battling multiple coronavirus outbreaks in half a dozen cities, with the one closest to the capital driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant. (Tao Ming/Xinhua via AP, File)Throughout the pandemic, authorities have been especially protective of Beijing since it is the seat of government and home to senior politicians. With the Games opening there in just over three weeks and China’s national pride on the line, the stakes are even higher now.

On Thursday, Tianjin suspended train, taxi, bus and ride-hailing services to other cities. Flights and high-speed train services were canceled earlier and highways closed. People leaving the city were required to present negative virus tests and receive special permission.

Elsewhere, more than 20 million people under lockdown in China, including in the western city of Xi’an. Some are barred from leaving their homes.

That’s all part of the sweeping restrictions on movement China has repeatedly imposed since early 2020. It started with the then-unprecedented step of sealing off 11 million people in the central city Wuhan, where the virus was first detected, and other parts of surrounding Hubei province.

© Provided by Associated Press Commuters wearing face masks to help protect against the coronavirus walk along a street in the central business district in Beijing, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. Just weeks before hosting the Beijing Winter Olympics, China is battling multiple coronavirus outbreaks in half a dozen cities, with the one closest to the capital driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)Along with mass testing and digital surveillance of people’s movements, those measures have kept the virus from spreading into a full-fledged national outbreak so far. The country’s vaccination rate now also tops 85%.

Other countries that tried a similar zero-tolerance approach have abandoned it, deciding instead to try to live with the virus, while mitigating its worst effects.

China persists, but may find the strategy increasingly difficult since the omicron variant is more contagious than previous versions of the virus and is better at evading vaccines. That challenge comes just as China is welcoming thousands of people from abroad for the Olympics, which start Feb. 4.

© Provided by Associated Press Workers wearing face masks to protect against coronavirus stand inside a screening area for Winter Olympic spectators set up near the Olympic Green in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022. Just weeks before hosting the Beijing Winter Olympics, China is battling multiple coronavirus outbreaks in half a dozen cities, with the one closest to the capital driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)“I think it truly is a critical juncture for China. Can it stave off omicron?” said Dali Yang, a Chinese politics expert at the University of Chicago.

China reported 124 domestically transmitted cases on Thursday, including 76 in Henan province and 41 in Tianjin.

Authorities have reported a total of 104,379 cases since the pandemic began and 4,636 deaths, a figure that hasn’t changed in months.

During the Tokyo Olympics in July, Japan saw a widespread outbreak driven by the delta variant, but the measures at the Olympics themselves were mostly effective in stopping transmission, said Kenji Shibuya, research director at the Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research and a public health expert.

© Provided by Associated Press A woman wearing a face mask to protect against coronavirus watches as another woman poses for a photo with a statue of the Winter Olympic mascot Bing Dwen Dwen near the Olympic Green in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022. The Chinese capital is on high alert ahead of the Winter Olympics as China continues to report new cases of COVID-19 in the nearby city of Tianjin. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)The rules in Beijing will be even stricter than Tokyo’s.

The Games are being conducted under a “closed loop” system that is meant to prevent all contact between the outside world and athletes, journalists, staff and officials at the Olympics.

Those inside the Games bubble will travel between hotels and competition venues in special vehicles. Anyone who leaves the sealed environment will be required to quarantine for three weeks.

© Provided by Associated Press A child wearing a face mask to help protect against the coronavirus walks out of a screening area for Winter Olympic spectators set up near the Olympic Green in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022. Just weeks before hosting the Beijing Winter Olympics, China is battling multiple coronavirus outbreaks in half a dozen cities, with the one closest to the capital driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)Police even went so far as to warn anyone involved in a collision with an Olympics vehicle to avoid contact with people on board and wait for a special team to handle the situation.

Such measures should be able to prevent the spread of the virus within the bubble, said Kei Saito, a virologist at the University of Tokyo.

© Provided by Associated Press FILE – Residents line up for a second round of COVID-19 testing in northern China’s Tianjin Municipality on Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022. Just weeks before hosting the Beijing Winter Olympics, China is battling multiple coronavirus outbreaks in half a dozen cities, with the one closest to the capital driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant. (Chinatopix Via AP, File)But outside, it could be a different story.

© Provided by Associated Press A worker wearing a protective suit takes a swab for a COVID-19 test at a community testing site in northern China’s Tianjin Municipality, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. Most access to a major city adjacent to Beijing was suspended Thursday as the government tried to contain an outbreak of the coronavirus’s easily transmitted omicron variant ahead of next month’s Winter Olympics in the Chinese capital. (Chinatopix via AP)“Omicron is three to four times more transmissible than delta,” said Saito. “I think it’s almost impossible to control the spread of omicron.”

© Provided by Associated Press Commuters wearing face masks to protect against coronavirus line up at a takeaway food shop in the central business district in Beijing, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. Just weeks before hosting the Beijing Winter Olympics, China is battling multiple coronavirus outbreaks in half a dozen cities, with the one closest to the capital driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)Furthermore, the lack of widespread outbreaks means the Chinese population is protected only by vaccines and not by antibodies produced by previous infections, said Dr. Vineeta Bal, an Indian immunologist.

© Provided by Associated Press Commuters wearing face masks to help protect against the coronavirus walk across an intersection in the central business district in Beijing, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. Just weeks before hosting the Beijing Winter Olympics, China is battling multiple coronavirus outbreaks in half a dozen cities, with the one closest to the capital driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)The domestically made vaccines China is using are also generally considered less effective than those widely used in other countries, such as the Pfizer or Moderna shots.

© Provided by Associated Press In this photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, a worker wearing a protective suit swabs for a coronavirus test at a COVID-19 testing site in northern China’s Tianjin Municipality, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022. Just weeks before hosting the Beijing Winter Olympics, China is battling multiple coronavirus outbreaks in half a dozen cities, with the one closest to the capital driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant. (Sun Fanyue/Xinhua via AP)Despite these challenges, China has shown no signs of giving up on its efforts to stop the spread of the virus in its tracks.

© Provided by Associated Press Olympic Rings assembled atop of a structure stand out near a ski resort on the outskirts of Beijing, China, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. The Chinese capital is gearing up for the Winter Olympics the midst of COVID-19 outbreaks in several Chinese cities which have been locked down. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)Tianjin conducted mass testing for a second time Wednesday. The government asked people to wait at home until they receive a negative result, and communities in Beijing asked their residents to report if they’ve visited the nearby port city in recent weeks.

Trucks carrying food and medical will be allowed into Tianjin, but drivers were told to wear masks and take other steps to avoid transmitting the virus, according to a city government notice.

Automaker Volkswagen AG said it shut down two factories in the city on Monday and employees have been tested twice. “We hope to resume production very soon,” it said in a statement.

Despite that, the disruptions for people in Tianjin remain lighter than in other cities that are completely locked down.

“Everything is fine, the supermarkets and restaurants, you can go to all normally,” said Yu Xuan, who works at a university in Tianjin.

Wang Dacheng, another resident, said his father who has trouble walking was able to get tested in their apartment.

“Everyone’s been very calm and collected,” Wang said.

Restrictions in Xi’an, a city of 14 million people, and the central province of Henan have prompted complaints people sequestered in their apartments were running out of food.

Organizers are determined the Games will go on despite the pandemic and controversies including a U.S.-led diplomatic boycott over accusations of human rights abuses against mostly Muslim minorities in China’s northwest.

“The world is turning its eyes to China,” President Xi Jinping said during an inspection tour last week. “And China is ready.”

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Associated Press researcher Chen Si in Shanghai and AP Science Writer Aniruddha Ghosal in New Delhi contributed to this report.