Two Omicron Cases Confirmed In Central Henan Province

The outbreak of the highly-transmissible Omicron coronavirus variant has spread from Tianjin to the central province of Henan.

Two local Covid-19 infections in Anyang City, in the north of Henan, were confirmed to be caused by the Omicron variant, local authorities were quoted by the Xinhua News Agency as saying on Monday.

They said the two patients are believed to be linked to the same transmission chain as the existing local cases in the Jinnan District of the Tianjin Municipality.

Based on the epidemiological investigation and gene sequencing results, Xinhua said, the source of the Omicron infections in Henan has been identified as a college student who returned to the Tangyin County area of Anyang City from Tianjin's Jinnan District on December 28.

Authorities in Tianjin ordered citywide Covid testing on Sunday after 20 people tested positive for the virus.

Officials said the infections were found on Friday and Saturday in the Jinnan district and included at least two of cases of Omicron.