Omicron Subavrian Occurs In China: Tibet Holds Mass COVID-19 Testing, New Clusters Emerge In Hainan And Xinjiang, Millions In Lockdown

Illustration tes COVID-19 from China. (Wikimedia Commons/Leiem)

JAKARTA - A number of cities in Tibet carried out mass COVID-19 testing on Tuesday, including the two largest cities in China's autonomous region, to combat the rare flare-up, as clusters grew in tropical Hainan and in Xinjiang in western China.

The highly contagious subvariant of Omicron challenges China's strategy to block the rapid spread of any nascent clusters. The region, which has seen relatively few cases for more than two years, is now battling the outbreak, increasing the risk of persistently tight restrictions as the economy weakens.

Mainland China reported 828 new domestically transmitted cases for August 8, official data showed on Tuesday. More than 70 percent of the cases were found in Hainan, one of the country's most popular tourist destinations, as well as Xinjiang, while the rest were reported in more than a dozen provinces and territories.

In Hainan, millions of residents are under lockdown in several cities and towns, only allowed out for necessary reasons such as COVID tests, grocery shopping and essential job roles. Some 178.000 tourists were also stranded in the southern island province, according to state media reports.

Provincial authorities must adopt all measures to achieve "COVID zero at the community level" by Friday, with no new cases emerging in communities outside the quarantine area, the Hainan Government said in a statement late Monday.

Hainan's success in detaining smaller groups in April and July has generated satisfaction among officials and residents, a provincial health official said.

"We still have many shortcomings and weaknesses in the epidemiological investigation, testing and treatment of COVID," Zhou Changqiang, head of the Hainan health commission, told state television in a program aired late Monday.

In Tibet, which previously had only one symptomatic COVID infection in more than 900 days, local authorities reported one local patient with confirmed symptoms and 21 asymptomatic infections on Aug 8.

Lhasa, the provincial capital and largest city in Tibet, has suspended major events and closed entertainment and religious venues.

Tibet's second-largest city, Shigatse, has entered three days of restrictions in which people are barred from entering or leaving, with many businesses suspended. Both Lhasa and Shigatse are running a new round of mass testing, and the second round will start on Wednesday, state television said on Tuesday.

As for Tibet's Ngari Prefecture, three cities have started three rounds of mass testing, while other cities are in the first round, state television said.

It is known, mainland China has recorded a cumulative 231.665 cases with symptoms as of August 8, including local patients and those who came from outside the mainland.

Meanwhile, no new deaths were reported as of August 8, keeping the nation's deaths at 5.226.

The good news is that China's capital, Beijing, along with financial hub Shanghai and southern technology hub Shenzhen reported zero new local cases.