Prevention measures include a 21-day quarantine of unvaccinated athletes after arriving in Beijing and the exclusion of foreign audiences.
Beijing, which remains on guard against the outbreaks of coronavirus registered in the city and in various Chinese regions, the countdown of 100 days until the Olympic Winter Games, that will be held under strict preventive measures against COVID-19.
Despite the small-scale regrowth (643 active cases nationwide), Beijing has already asked the population to limit travel and has banned people who have recently been in areas where cases have been detected from entering the city.
This week, Beijing Marathon organizers suspended this year’s race, originally scheduled for October 31, “to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.”
The capital, in which there were 28 active cases yesterdayIn this way, it wants to control the pandemic 100 days after the Games are held, which will make it the first city in the world to hold the Summer (2008) and Winter Olympics.
The Olympic flame arrived in Beijing last week from Olympia, Greece, and he will visit various parts of the Asian country to encourage the population to practice winter sports before his relay, scheduled for February 2-4 at the three venues of the Olympic event, Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou.
At that time, the city will be the object of international attention, so the authorities want to avoid a large-scale outbreak at all costs and they strictly apply the now usual Chinese zero tolerance policy against covid.
Last month, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee announced the preventive measures for the Games, including a 21-day prior quarantine after arriving in Beijing to those athletes who are not vaccinated and the exclusion of the public from abroad.
Arrivals in China must record their body temperature in their home countries 14 days prior to arrival in China and undergo two nucleic acid tests in the 96 hours before the flight.
Upon arrival, athletes and journalists must remain during their stay in the Chinese capital in a closed circuit which will cover all its activities in the Chinese capital, and adhere to preventive measures, under pain of disqualification or expulsion for athletes, the organizing committee announced today.
On the political side, the European Parliament passed a resolution last July calling for a “diplomatic boycott” of the Beijing Games for “human rights abuses”.
However, the vice president of the International Olympic Committee, John Coates, said this month that the committee “does not have the capacity to go to a country and tell it what to do”, a comment that was “valued positively” by the Chinese Foreign spokesman Zhao Lijian , who stated that China will oppose “the politicization of sport” and that it will organize “magnificent and safe” Games for the world.
Beijing 2022 will be the third consecutive Olympic event to be held in Asia, after the 2018 one in Pieonchang (South Korea) and the last Tokyo Games. (D)
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