Lama Temple, a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in central Beijing, will be closing down for an unspecified period due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This comes a day after China’s capital reported its first locally transmitted infection of the highly transmissible omicron variant of coronavirus on Saturday, according to state media, ahead of its staging of the Olympic Winter Games on February 4.

The country also witnessed 65 locally transmitted cases of the infection on Sunday, down from 104 from the previous day, news agency Reuters reported. The new locally transmitted cases were in Tianjin, Henan, Beijing, Guangdong and Shaanxi, according to data by the National Health Commission (NHC).

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The detection of the omicron variant has led to containment measures and curbs, including the temporary closing of some religious places. 

“It is too soon to conclude that Omicron will swamp China’s efforts to suppress COVID,” Mark Williams, chief Asia economist at Capital Economics, said in a note on Friday, reported Reuters.

“But it is clear that the emergence of more transmissible variants is requiring more frequent interventions … And the economic toll from this vigilance is mounting,” she added. 

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Regarding the omicron case in Beijing, lab testing found “mutations specific to the Omicron variant” in the person, Pang Xinghuo, an official at the city’s disease control authority, told a news briefing.

Officials have sealed up the infected person’s residential compound and workplace, and collected 2,430 samples for testing from people linked to the two locations, a Haidian district official said.

Also Read: COVID-19: China battles omicron wave weeks before Beijing Olympics

The detection in Beijing came as cities across the country ratchet up viral vigilance ahead of the Winter Olympics, which is due to start from February 4.

Authorities have also warned that omicron adds to the increased risk of COVID-19 transmission as more people travel across the country and return to China from overseas for the Lunar New Year holiday starting at the end of the month.

The country reported 119 new cases on January 15, according to data by the NHC.