Uploaded January 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
BEIJING — China’s 40-day Spring Festival travel rush began on January 17, with the start of the world’s largest human migration event coming as the country faces growing concerns over omicron outbreaks.
The period involves hundreds of millions of trips and, on January 19, Guangzhou and Dongguan were the top two cities for departures, according to Chinese tech company Baidu, with Guangzhou and Chengdu the most popular destinations.
COVID-19 means total trips will remain down from around 3 billion in 2019, sitting at round 1.1 billion, according to Asia News International, citing the state-backed Global Times.
However, as The Guardian reported that at least nine cities across six provinces in China have reported Omicron cases in the last two weeks, Asia News International reports that 280 million railway passenger trips and nearly 600,000 passenger flights are scheduled in total, explaining that if outbreaks occur, railway services are ready to be immediately suspended or reduced, while flights would be adjusted “dynamically.”
SOURCES: Asia News International, Yahoo, Baidu, Statista
aninews.in/news/world/asia/amid-nationwide-covid-19-flare-ups-china-enters-40-day-spring-festival-travel-rush20220118060752
sports.yahoo.com/beijing-olympics-everyone-is-just-worried-about-getting-there-035417527.html
qianxi.baidu.com/#
theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/21/not-sustainable-omicron-tests-chinas-zero-covid-policy-as-first-cases-detected
BEIJING — China’s 40-day Spring Festival travel rush began on January 17, with the start of the world’s largest human migration event coming as the country faces growing concerns over omicron outbreaks.
The period involves hundreds of millions of trips and, on January 19, Guangzhou and Dongguan were the top two cities for departures, according to Chinese tech company Baidu, with Guangzhou and Chengdu the most popular destinations.
COVID-19 means total trips will remain down from around 3 billion in 2019, sitting at round 1.1 billion, according to Asia News International, citing the state-backed Global Times.
However, as The Guardian reported that at least nine cities across six provinces in China have reported Omicron cases in the last two weeks, Asia News International reports that 280 million railway passenger trips and nearly 600,000 passenger flights are scheduled in total, explaining that if outbreaks occur, railway services are ready to be immediately suspended or reduced, while flights would be adjusted “dynamically.”
SOURCES: Asia News International, Yahoo, Baidu, Statista
aninews.in/news/world/asia/amid-nationwide-covid-19-flare-ups-china-enters-40-day-spring-festival-travel-rush20220118060752
sports.yahoo.com/beijing-olympics-everyone-is-just-worried-about-getting-there-035417527.html
qianxi.baidu.com/#
theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/21/not-sustainable-omicron-tests-chinas-zero-covid-policy-as-first-cases-detected






![Russia Takes Chernobyl Nuclear Plant in ‘Fierce Battle’
CHERNOBYL, UKRAINE — The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency says it is ‘closely monitoring’ developments at nuclear-related facilities in Ukraine after Russian forces captured the Chernobyl nuclear plant after a fierce battle with Ukrainian national guards protecting the decommissioned site on Thursday, according to Al Jazeera.
Infamously, Reactor No. 4 at Chernobyl exploded on April 26, 1986. The subsequent fire that demolished the reactor building released large amounts of radiation into the atmosphere. Citing the official website of the site’s operator, Reuters explains that nuclear waste management and storage remain ongoing at the site, while New Scientist reported a surge in fission reactions around the destroyed nuclear reactor in May last year.
The situation now according to nuclear scientists who spoke to New Scientist both directly before the attack and after is that the risk of nuclear material being released from the decaying reactor as a result of the conflict is low, with one researcher who monitors the ongoing emission of neutrons from the reactor explaining that staff at Chernobyl were safe. “The entrance of [Chernobyl is] controlled by Russians. They do not enter inside,” he said.
Bruno Merk at the University of Liverpool meanwhile concluded: “I think as long as there is not a deliberate attack the risk is comparably low,” though he added: “If it’s a deliberate act, you could possibly do it.”
Closest to the situation itself, Chernobyl scientist who worked on confinement plans at the site told New Scientist on February 22 that monitoring work would continue and that all safety systems at the plant are working well, but that scientific data processing has been partially suspended.
In terms of the wider Russian invasion of Ukraine, NBC News reports that the Chernobyl is most likely valuable because of its location, sitting on one of the most direct routes to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, as Russian troops look to push through the country. “They want it because they want to take control of the whole effing country,” according to Evelyn Farkas, who served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia for the Obama administration. “They want to surround the capital.”
SOURCES: IAEA, Reuters, Yahoo News, Al Jazeera, New Scientist, NBC
https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/pressreleases/iaea-director-general-statement-on-the-situation-in-ukraine
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/chernobyl-power-plant-captured-by-russian-forces-ukrainian-official-2022-02-24/
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/iaea-says-ukraine-power-plants-running-safely-no-destruction-chernobyl-2022-02-24/
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/war-comes-to-chernobyl-raising-nuclear-fears-in-russia-invasion-of-ukraine-170528013.html
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/24/chernobyl-nuclear-plant-targeted-as-russia-invades-ukraine
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2309599-risk-of-nuclear-disaster-is-minimal-as-russian-forces-reach-chernobyl/
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2277195-nuclear-reactions-at-chernobyl-are-spiking-in-an-inaccessible-chamber/
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/russia-want-take-chernobyl-rcna17615 Russia Takes Chernobyl Nuclear Plant in ‘Fierce Battle’](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yHBjsy84yV4/mqdefault.jpg)



