Appearing on the radar at the end of last year, Omicron is largely responsible for the explosion of cases of contamination all over the world. However, the variant still has gray areas, which is why every precaution must be taken to guard against them.
In China, authorities have asked postal services to disinfect letters and packages from overseas as soon as possible. The country believes that Omicron was “imported”: according to the city of Beijing, it is a letter from Canada that is at the origin of the appearance of the variant in China. Traces of the virus were indeed discovered on the letter…
Olympic Games under close surveillance
To avoid a new epidemic outbreak while the country applies a very aggressive “zero Covid” policy, the China Post will therefore have to disinfect all mail sent from abroad. Employees in contact with packages and letters will be strongly encouraged to take a booster dose of vaccine.
The postal services are also asking citizens to reduce orders from countries and regions with a high risk of Covid as much as possible. The case is all the more important as Beijing will host the Winter Olympics, from February 4 to 20. Strict measures have been put in place to avoid contamination, so the organization will not sell tickets. On the other hand, there will be many spectators during the competitions, but only by invitation.
It remains to be seen whether the disinfection of mail from abroad will have an effect. In March 2020, at the start of the pandemic, many had taken to cleaning everything to avoid contamination from surfaces or objects. However, scientific studies have shown that this risk was not even measurable. It is still too early to say if it will be the same for Omicron.
