What’s new: Beijing Winter Olympics organizers have confirmed that 78 Games-related personnel tested positive for Covid-19 from Jan. 4 to Sunday at the airport and within the “closed loop” system.
According to a Monday statement, the Beijing 2022 organizing committee confirmed six new Covid-19 cases Sunday. They include one person who was either an athlete or team official.
Among the cases confirmed from Jan. 4 to Saturday, 39 were identified among 2,586 people who received entry tests at Beijing Capital International Airport, and 33 were from 336,421 Covid-19 tests within the “closed loop” that separates Olympics-related personnel from the general public, according to a Sunday statement (link in Chinese) issued by the committee.
The confirmed cases don’t belong to the 171 athletes and team officials who arrived in China from abroad, or athletes and team officials who received 175 tests within the “closed-loop” management during that period, the statement said in the run-up to the Games.
The patients have been promptly isolated and close contacts have been identified, in accordance with the measures described in official guidance known as the ‘Beijing 2022 Playbooks,’ the International Olympic Committee said in a Sunday news release.
The news release also shared that the cases are the first statistics of the pre-Games period testing, which lasted from Jan. 4 to Jan. 22, and there will be daily reports going forward.
The background: The cases were announced less than a fortnight before the start of the Winter Olympics on Feb. 4, and as the capital is battling a growing outbreak driven by both the omicron and delta variants.
The closed-loop management system is part of Beijing’s anti-Covid playbook to ensure the Winter Olympics take place safely. All participants must remain in the loop after arriving in Beijing and be tested daily. Overseas participants are also required to be fully vaccinated at least 14 days before their departure to China.
Ahead of the arrival of participants, thousands of Olympics-related staff, volunteers, cleaners, cooks and drivers have been quarantined inside the loop since Jan. 4 and will stay inside until the end of the Games.
Contact reporter Wang Xintong (xintongwang@caixin.com) and editor Bertrand Teo (bertrandteo@caixin.com)
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