SHANGHAI, Jan 9, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - The northern Chinese city of Tianjin on
Sunday advised its nearly 14 million people to stay home while it conducted
mass Covid testing after a spate of recent cases, including two caused by the
Omicron variant, state-controlled media reported.

     Tianjin emerged as a new area of concern after more than 20 Covid cases
were reported there in the last few days, most of them imported from abroad,
according to the National Health Commission.

     They include at least two cases of the Omicron variant, as well as 15
infections among elementary and middle school students, according to various
state media reports.

     The city near the capital Beijing launched its mass testing early
Sunday, advising residents to stay at or near home to be available for the
community-level nucleic-acid screening.

     So far, however, no larger lockdown order was seen.

     Chinese authorities have already been struggling with a larger outbreak
centred on the northwestern city of Xi'an that has sparked questioning of the
country's zero-tolerance policy of strict lockdowns and immediate mass
testing to curb outbreaks.

     China, where the coronavirus was first detected in 2019, has thus far
reported only a handful of Omicron cases.

     Tianjin residents have been told that until they obtain a negative test
result, they will not receive a "green" code on smartphone Covid-tracing apps
that nearly all people in China are now required to present when using public
transport and in other situations.

     Tianjin is a major port city about 150 kilometres (90 miles) southeast
of Beijing.

     Xi'an, historic home to China's famed Terracotta Warriors, was locked
down last month, forcing its 13 million residents indoors. New case numbers
there have slowed in recent days.

     Officials have faced complaints from Xi'an residents over chaotic
handling of the lockdown, including poor access to food and daily essentials,
and viral cases such as a miscarriage suffered by an eight-month pregnant
woman who was refused entry to a hospital without a Covid test.

     China's government has touted its initial strict response to Covid,
which has largely brought the pandemic under control within its borders, as
preferrable to sometimes lax and chaotic measures overseas.

     International flights are a fraction of pre-pandemic levels with
arrivals undergoing strict weeks-long quarantine, and the mandatory track-
and-trace apps mean close contacts are usually detected and quarantined
quickly.

     China is hewing strictly to the zero-tolerance approach as outbreaks
continue to emerge in the run-up to next month's Beijing Winter Olympics.

     China's official tally since the start of the pandemic -- just over
100,000 Covid cases -- is a fraction of the record one million cases logged
by the US in a single day earlier this month.

     Cases from China's chaotic initial outbreak in Wuhan in early 2020,
however, are widely believed to have been under-reported.

     China's official death toll has stayed under 5,000.