The number of new corona infections in China has reached its highest level since March 2020 two and a half weeks before the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Beijing (February 4-20).

The first omicron case in the capital was also registered at the weekend.

223 new cases were reported in China on Monday, including 80 in the virus-hit port city of Tianjin and nine others, including omicron cases, in Canton in the south of the country.

A further 68 cases were reported from the central province of Henan, where several million residents are partially under lockdown measures and a massive testing campaign has been carried out.

Zhuhai, on the Macau border, has urged its nearly 2.5 million residents not to leave the city after multiple omicron cases were recorded.

Tests began across the city on Monday and schools were closed.

Despite China sticking to its zero-Covid strategy and strict entry controls, 60 new "imported" cases were also reported on Monday.

Some athletes and representatives have already arrived in the capital ahead of the Games.

They immediately entered a tightly controlled bubble that completely separates them from the rest of the population.

After a local case of omicron was detected in Beijing over the weekend, authorities tightened regulations on people entering the capital from other parts of China.

The infected woman is still in Beijing and has not been in contact with other infected people, said health officials, who have tested around 13,000 people living or working in the same area.

Some tourist attractions in the capital have also been closed.