Pandemic: Beijing Reported COVID Cases

China reported COVID-19 cases including the Omicron mutant. Beijing reported an Omicron case on January 15. It also reported 5 COVID cases on January 19. The Beijing government spokesperson said the Omicron and Delta variants were cross spreading in Beijing and created a higher risk for COVID prevention. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is known for hiding COVID information, so the actual infection situation is unknown.

Beijing reported that two patients in Fangshan District (counted in the January 19 infection cases) had not left Beijing in the past 14 days. This made people wonder if they got the virus from other people in whom the infection had not yet been detected.

However, the CCP blamed the international mail and the international supply chain. The authorities said that the patient in the January 15 case received an international mail that had been sent from Canada on January 7, going through the United States and Hong Kong, and then arriving in Beijing on January 11. Chinese medical experts found the Omicron virus on that international mail.

Other Chinese cities also blamed international shipping for spreading the COVID virus. Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province said an Omicron patient in their city received an international mail on January 12. Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province said a COVID patient in their city worked in the international supply chain field.

However, experts outside of China questioned the possibility of the mail spreading COVID. Some argued that the virus trace on the mail could have been from the patient who might have already caught COVID by the time he received the mail. The Wall Street Journal also quoted a London doctor, Martin Hibberd, who stated that there is not much evidence to support the theory that COVID can spread over an object’s surface. The virus might only live for 10 minutes on the surface, but shipping can take several hours or even several days.”

Articles

Topics