TOPLINE
Eleven staffers linked to the 2022 Beijing Olympics have been hospitalized with Covid-19 since January 23, the games organizers’ disclosed on Wednesday, amid a growing number of infections linked to the event and reported from inside the Olympic bubble that could pose a major challenge to China’s “zero Covid” strategy.
KEY FACTS
Brian McCloskey, the head of the games’ medical expert panel, said none of the hospitalized individuals were in a serious condition, Reuters reported.
Organizers of the winter games, which officially start on Friday, added 32 new Covid-19 cases to the event’s tally on Wednesday, including 15 cases which were detected among airport arrivals.
Since January 23, organizers have recorded 232 cases linked to the Olympics, 163 of which were detected at the airport and 69 inside the event’s bubble known as the “closed loop.”
Despite the growing number of cases inside the closed loop, Chinese authorities have said they believe the pandemic situation at the Olympics is within the “expected controllable range.”
Outside of the Olympics closed loop, two new Covid-19 cases were reported in Beijing on Wednesday, a significant drop from the 14 cases that were detected in the city last Wednesday.
TANGENT
Despite a drop in cases across the city, Beijing officials appear to be taking no chances as they ordered several residential communities in the city to be sealed off after two cases were detected earlier this week.
KEY BACKGROUND
Despite the emergence of the highly infectious omicron variant in its capital, China has continued to stick by its “zero tolerance” strategy towards Covid-19. A small outbreak in Beijing appears to have been mostly stomped out after several rounds of mass testing in the city. Additionally, those involved in the upcoming winter games have been kept separate from the rest of the city under the closed loop which includes dedicated transport, housing and training facilities for visiting athletes and games personnel. Before entering the closed loop, vaccinated arrivals have to undergo a round of testing at the airport, while unvaccinated individuals are forced to undergo a 21-day quarantine. Despite this, 69 cases have been reported inside the loop, raising the possibility of an outbreak during the event. The prevalence of cases linked to the event has forced the games’ organizers to admit a “zero infections” model would be impossible to implement. Instead, the organizers are attempting to ensure “zero spread,” which involves detecting and isolating positive cases quickly. McCloskey believes the case counts will drop once the number of participants arriving into China begins to decrease.
FURTHER READING
Eleven Beijing Games personnel in hospital with COVID, none serious (Reuters)
