Source tracing links Beijing new COVID-19 case with int'l mail

Source tracing has linked Beijing's new local COVID-19 infection with international mail, a health official said Monday at a press conference.

The patient received a mail on Jan. 11 delivered from Canada to Beijing via the United States and Hong Kong. She said that she had touched the outside surface of the package and the first page of the document inside, according to Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of Beijing's center for disease control and prevention.

Pang said they had collected 22 environmental samples from the international mail, and the nucleic acid tests all came back positive.

The new case was reported on Saturday and is confirmed to be an Omicron variant of COVID-19.