Polish youth is first known omicron case in mainland China

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s Health ministry said Tuesday that a Polish teenager who flew from Warsaw to China last week is continental China’s first person to test positive for the omicron variant of COVID-19.

Ministry spokesman Wojciech Andrusiewicz said the teenager, who traveled with her mother, was hospitalized in isolation. She shows no symptoms of illness.

Andrusiewicz said she tested negative before leaving Warsaw Dec. 6, but a test after arrival in China showed infection with the omicron, which was confirmed by a second test, Dec.13.

According to China's “Global Times” newspaper, the teenager is in Tianjin.

One crew member of the Polish LOT airlines plane that she travelled on tested positive for COVID-19, but there was no information as to the variant, Andrusiewicz said.

The plane returned empty to Poland, according to Polish Radio reporter in Beijing.

Hong Kong has reported a few omicron cases.