Zeroing In Could Covid Burst The Olympic Bubble?

Like many middle class Chinese, the 26-year-old banker from Beijing spent the first two weeks of January celebrating the new year.

- Vincent Ni and Helen Davidson

She visited Dior, shopped at Walmart and lunched at Quanjude , the city’s best-known Peking duck restaurant. One evening, she watched a comedy show. And on one weekend, she drove with friends to a ski resort on the edge of the capital.

Earlier this month it was announced she was Beijing’s Omicron “patient zero”. Authorities released a detailed account of her itinerary dating back to 31 December, and her lifestyle became the talking point of China. Authorities also noted that she had been triple vaccinated with Sinovac.

In a country striving to “eliminate” coronavirus, this mean t that more than 13,000 people, and all the places visited by the young woman in Beijing – including the ski resort – were swiftly tested. Her block of flats and workplace were also sealed off. Officials urged caution to residents in the city of more than 20 million people as they reassured them of the efforts they were taking to keep them safe.

Omicron is unlike previous variants. Chinese public health officials, like western scientists, admit it is highly transmissible and difficult to detect. A t least nine cities across six provinces in mainland China have reported Omicron cases. From 15 January to last Friday, Beijing reported fewer than 10 local infections of the Delta and Omicron variants. They are a tiny case count compared with the rest of the world but enough to raise alarm in the Chinese capital.