Tianjin's 14 million residents are set to be tested for COVID-19 ©Getty Images

Mass testing has begun in Tianjin in China amid concerns over an outbreak of COVID-19 prior to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

The Chinese city is situated fewer than 150 kilometres from Beijing which is scheduled to stage the Games in just 26 days’ time.

A cluster of 20 children and adults have tested positive for COVID-19 in Tianjin, resulting in the city’s entire population of 14 million undergoing mass testing.

The first two cases were identified when a 10-year-old girl and 29-year-old woman tested positive for the highly contagious Omicron variant.

Close contacts were then tested, resulting in a further 18 individuals returning positive results and 767 coming back as negative as of yesterday.

Residents have now been urged to stay at or near their homes, with officials reportedly aiming to complete mass testing within two days.

Tianjin was originally scheduled to stage the International Skating Union Four Continents Figure Skating Championships later this month only to be cancelled in October last year due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The event was moved to Tallinn in Estonia.

The outbreak in Tianjin will be a cause for concern for the Chinese Government, which is aiming to stamp out any cases to maintain its "zero COVID" policy.

The Chinese cities of Xi’an and Yuzhou have recently been placed into lockdown in a bid to stem an increasing number of coronavirus infections.

Mass testing has also been underway in Zhengzhou following an outbreak of cases.

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A "closed loop management system" is being implemented at Beijing 2022 to stop participants from mixing with the public ©Getty Images

A total of 165 COVID-19 infections were confirmed in China yesterday despite adopting one of the world’s strictest coronavirus prevention strategies.

Beijing 2022 organisers have implemented a "closed-loop management system" in a bid to combat the spread of COVID-19.

Once within the loop, people will undergo daily testing for COVID-19 and will be unable to access the outside world for the duration of their time in Beijing.

Unvaccinated participants must complete a three-week quarantine before they are allowed to travel to venues.

Michael Ryan, emergencies director for the World Health Organization, said it was "confident" in the COVID-19 countermeasures being put in place by Beijing 2022 organisers and did not foresee any increased risk of transmission.

As well as the coronavirus pandemic, the build-up to Beijing 2022 has been dominated by criticism of China's record on human rights.

Beijing is scheduled to host the Winter Olympics from February 4 to 20, followed by the Winter Paralympics from March 4 to 13.