(TibetanReview.net, Jul23’22) – Coronavirus cases in Xiahe (Tibetan: Sangchu) County of Gannan (Kanlho) Tibet autonomous prefecture of Gansu Province had risen to 52 in the current spread of the pandemic, reported China’s official chinadaily.com.cn Jul 23.
Sangchu is home to the famed Labrang Tashikhyil Monastery, located in the historically Tibetan province of Amdo.
The report said that new local Covid-19 cases in the province continued to climb as the virus spread from the provincial capital Lanzhou to two ethnic autonomous prefectures, namely Linxia Hui autonomous prefecture, where cases had jumped to over 260, and Xiahe.
The report said that the province reported 52 confirmed cases and 517 asymptomatic cases on Jul 21, lifting the total since July 8 to 377 confirmed and 1,834 asymptomatic cases.
Most of the confirmed cases on Jul 21were reported from Lanzhou, which remained a hotspot, the report said.
The report cited Wang Xuxia, an expert at the Gansu provincial center for disease control and prevention, as saying the latest outbreak was triggered by the BA.2.38 strain, a branch of the BA.2 subvariant of Omicron.
“The virus has transmitted across at least five generations, but its spread has slowed down recently thanks to strengthened virus control measures,” she has said.
The provincial capital has completed three rounds of citywide nucleic acid testing, and the two prefectures have begun screening key regions and key groups, officials were cited as saying at a news conference on Jul 22 afternoon.