Three more cases of the novel coronavirus have been confirmed in Beijing since Monday, the municipal government said Tuesday, weeks before the Winter Olympics are scheduled to kick off in the capital on Feb. 4.
Health authorities have been stepping up anti-epidemic measures such as locking down places where the three visited recently and carrying out PCR tests targeting those who may have come into contact with the infected people, raising tensions in the city.
The Beijing government said Saturday it has detected its first case of the highly contagious Omicron variant, which has been expanding across China since earlier this month.
Two of the three -- a family member and a colleague of the first person with the Omicron variant in Beijing -- were identified to be infected with the same type of virus, while one was confirmed to be infected with the Delta variant.
The so-called world's largest human migration period, including the Jan. 31 start of the weeklong Lunar New Year holidays, began on Monday in China. During the year's 40-day travel season, called "Chunyun" in Chinese, 1.18 billion trips are expected in the country.
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