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BAD TIMING

Beijing Records First Locally Transmitted Omicron Case Weeks Before Winter Olympics

The Winter Games are scheduled to open on Feb. 4.

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Pawel Kopczynski/Reuters

By Barbie Latza Nadeau

Beijing reported its first locally transmitted case of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus less than two weeks before the opening of the Beijing Winter Games on Feb. 4. The infected person had been to multiple restaurants and malls in the previous 14 days but had not left the country, prompting health officials to close shrines and enact new measures to try to stop the spread. China quickly tested 13,000 people in the area where the infected person lived, but none turned up positive. It is unclear how prevalent Omicron is in China or if the spread will have any impact on plans to continue with the Olympic competition.

Read it at Reuters

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