<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222;">As the 20th national congress of the ruling communist party in China draws closer, local governments in Inner Mongolia are struggling to stop flare-ups of COVID-19 due to a new BF.7 Omicron sub-variant reaching the Chinese capital. Authorities locked down several cities and counties after logging more than 2,000 infections in the past 10 days. The autonomous region reported 637 new cases on Saturday – the highest total among the country's provincial administrations, most of them asymptomatic. Earlier this week, China's western Xinjiang region banned its 22 million residents from leaving the province as fear mounts of a COVID-19 spillover to other provinces.</span></p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br />''</p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222;">According to media reports, authorities in Inner Mongolia are locking down many parts of Hohhot, Ulanhot, and Hulunbuir, and mandating mass testing and quarantine in Baotou and Chifeng to ensure no disruptions to the Communist Party's twice-a-decade congress, which starts next weekend in Beijing. Local media reported, authorities urged officials to "Act faster, and prevent spread and spillover, especially to Beijing". Beijing has tightened restrictions to prevent holidaymakers from returning to the capital to threaten the zero-COVID goal. Tens of thousands of people trying to head home to Beijing after trips during the weeklong National Day break did not have a green code, preventing them from booking rail or air tickets to the capital. </span></p>