Winter Olympics: Covid-19 cases are within a controllable range, says organizer.
The information was provided by Huang Chun, deputy director general of the China Olympics Pandemic Prevention and Control Office.
By Muyu Xu and Engen Tham * - Beijing, Reuters - The Covid-19 situation at the Beijing Winter Olympics is within the "expected controllable range," despite the increase in positive cases detected, said Huang Chun, deputy director general of the China Olympics Pandemic Prevention and Control Office, on Tuesday (1st).
The Organizing Committee for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games has recorded 200 cases of COVID-19 since January 23 among arrivals at the airport and those in the Games' "closed-circuit" bubble that separates all event personnel, including athletes, from the public.
"As more people are entering China, imported cases of COVID-19 are increasing," Huang Chun said at a press conference.
Huang stated that the increase in cases was also a result of more effective and accurate COVID-19 detection techniques used by customs.
Organizers reported 24 new cases of Covid-19 among people connected to the Games on January 31, of which 16 are athletes.
Many athletes were excluded from the Games from February 4th to 20th after testing positive upon arrival at the airport, while others who were asymptomatic are in isolation.
Three of the 414 members of the Canadian delegation in Beijing were impacted by Covid-19 protocols in China, the Canadian Olympic Committee said in a statement on Tuesday (1st).
"Part of our strategy was to arrive early to allow time for confirmation tests and, if necessary, the development of the Medical Expert Panel process," he stated.
One of the positive cases is an athlete, although the Canadian committee has not released the name for privacy reasons.
"Getting to the Olympics is never easy, and this time, as a new mother, it was even more challenging," wrote Elana Meyers Taylor, a three-time Olympic medalist in bobsledding, on social media from her isolation hotel.
China views the stringent Covid-19 control measures, including frequent nucleic acid testing, as a way to help prevent clustered cases within the closed circuit.
"[The Covid-19 situation] is generally within our expected controllable range. Therefore, participants in the Games, including athletes, and the Chinese public have nothing to worry about," Huang said.
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