China Reports First Omicron Case ahead Bejing Winter Olympics

China reported its first case of the fast-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant ahead of Bejing Winter Olympics, state media said Monday.

Authorities in the northern city of Tianjin confirmed the case in a person who entered the country from an undisclosed overseas location, according to the Tianjin Daily newspaper.

The patient tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday before further tests "confirmed the detection of the... Omicron variant", the report said, adding that the person was isolated at the hospital.

The world's most populous nation is on high alert for potential outbreaks as it prepares to host the Beijing Winter Olympics in February.

China recorded 101 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, including 21 imported infections, according to data from the National Health Commission.

Omicron appears to spread faster than the Delta variant which makes vaccines less effective, the World Health Organization announced on Sunday.

In November, WHO renamed the new B.1.1.529 strain of COVID-19 Omicron.

“Based on the evidence presented indicative of a detrimental change in Covid-19 epidemiology… the WHO has designated B.1.1.529 as a variant of concern, named Omicron,” the U.N. health agency said in a statement.