The displacements for the Lunar New Year were the protagonists of life in China on Tuesday, which expects millions of trips despite the restrictions due to the outbreak of COVID-19 with an eye on the Winter Olympics, which will begin on February 4 in Beijing. .
The zeal of the authorities is especially intense before the arrival of the most important festivities of the year in the Asian country, which will reach its climax on January 31, New Year’s Eve.
During this period, the Chinese tend to return to their place of origin, which gives rise to the largest human migration on the planet.
For many rural migrants in the country’s big cities it is the only time of the year when they can reunite with their families.
Thus, this week began the ‘chunyun’, the 40-day period during which the Chinese undertake the return home, which is the busiest days for transport networks.
Despite the fact that the authorities of several locations such as Beijing have asked residents to spend the festivities in the capital, including with rewards of up to 500,000 yuan (US $ 78,730, 69,000 euros) to companies that manage to retain their employees in the city , 280 million train journeys and approximately 600,000 flights are expected in this period.
Officials hope that the displacements do not lead to an outbreak of the contagious omicron variant, which has caused restrictions in cities that have already registered cases such as Tianjin (northeast) or Anyang (center).
New cases in Beijing
Beijing, which will host the Olympics in just over two weeks, now requires negative tests before and after entering the city.
Its authorities announced today the detection of a new positive related to the first case by omicron found last weekend, according to local media.
Consequently, the neighborhoods of the positives are already confined and nucleic acid tests are being carried out on anyone who may have had contact with them.
Despite the fact that, according to official figures, there are less than 20 active cases of COVID-19 in Beijing, the figure is at the threshold of what is tolerable for the authorities, who continue to apply the policy of “zero tolerance” against coronavirus.
The strict strategy implies restrictions on mobility, quarantines and massive PCR campaigns wherever a case is detected.
In addition, many primary and secondary schools in Beijing will bring forward the New Year holidays or launch online classes from tomorrow, Wednesday.
In some cases, the restrictions will be extended until February 21, after the holidays.
Meanwhile, the inhabitants of Xi’an (center) have seen their confinement relaxed for almost 30 days after the city reported zero new cases for seven consecutive days.
Chinese media reported today that some university students have been given permission to leave the city and return to their home provinces.
However, in the Chinese capital the festivities for the Lunar New Year will coincide with the start of the Olympic event on February 4, which will be held under strict preventive measures.
an olympic bubble
All athletes and professionals working at the Winter Games who come from outside of China will be required to stay in one “bubble” during his entire stay in the Chinese capital.
They will not have any contact with the local population and the Beijing authorities have even established guidelines on how to interact to minimize contact in the event of a road accident with one of the special vehicles that will transport the inhabitants of the bubble between the accommodation and the sports facilities.
In addition, this Monday, the Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee confirmed that tickets will not be sold to people coming from abroad and that only “designated spectators” will be able to attend the events live, although he did not reveal more details about his identity.
The committee justified its decision in “protecting the health and safety of staff and the public” of the Olympic event, he explained in a statement.
The Chinese capital will become the first city to host a Winter and Summer Olympic Games and Beijing 2022 will be the third consecutive Olympic event to be held in Asia after Pyeongchang in South Korea in 2018 and Tokyo in the 2021.
According to official Chinese accounts, since the start of the pandemic, 105,258 people have been infected in the country, among whom 97,092 managed to recover and 4,636 died.
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