China admits Beijing Winter Olympics can bring COVID-19 spike as nations push for boycott

China has admitted that Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 could bring “COVID-19 cases or small clusters of infections” as “a large number of overseas personnel will gather, causing a very high risk of transmission”, said an official at State Council’s press conference on Thursday. As Beijing continues to draw fire over the COVID-19 origin probe and hosting the games amid the Omicron scare, the Deputy Director of Epidemic Prevention and Control Office of Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee, Huang Chun said that the country is fully geared up for possible COVID-19 cases inside the Games ‘bubble’, reported CNN.

It is to mention that China's statement over "possible COVID spike" during games comes after Beijing condemned the United Kingdom's and Canada's moves to join the United States' diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics earlier this month. China also referred to the two nations' actions as a "farce." The United Nations (UN) has said that over a million members of Muslim ethnic minority Uyghurs are detained in Xinjiang. However, on the contrary, Russia has denounced nations boycotting the sporting event in Beijing and has called for sports to not be politicised.

Guidelines for Beijing Winter Olympics

According to the report, Huang said that staff or players infected with coronavirus will not be able to compete or work. Instead, the COVID-19 patients among the attendees of the Beijing Winter Olympics will be sent to a designated hospital or isolation facility depending on whether the patient is symptomatic or not. 

Symptomatic COVID-19 patients would only be discharged after temperature turns normal, respiratory symptoms fade away and lung inflammation is absorbed. They would also be required to present two consecutive COVID-19 tests within 24 hours. Further elaborating on the Chinese government’s plans to tackle the infections among the players or officials at the games, Huang said that after recovery from infection, the players would be asked if they choose to participate in the next stage or return to work.

Meanwhile, for asymptomatic patients of COVID-19, Huang said that they will be tested every 24 hours while being isolated. They will be released if they present negative results twice within 24 hours, including one negative test within six hours of competition. Only after the mentioned stages, the players or officials will be allowed to return to Beijing Olympics “with some restrictions”. 

Olympics Organising Committee, Chinese people ‘very concerned’

Additionally, Huan also said that both the Organising Committee of the games and Chinese people are “very concerned” about the possible impact of potential COVID-19 cases inside the so-called Olympic ‘bubble’ on Chinese society. The media outlet quoted Huang as saying, “Our line of defence will prevent infections from spreading to the city, and we should hold this line especially regarding the highly contagious Omicron.” 

Han Zirong, Vice President and General Secretary of Beijing Winter Olympic Organising Committee added that coronavirus cases had been detected among the athletes before boarding and at airport customs upon entry for test events since October. He said that infected individuals were placed under quarantine and close contacts were allowed to train and compete under strict protection. Han was quoted as saying, “Even when COVID-19 cases did occur, we handled it effectively and there was no spread of the disease. It is fair to say that the epidemic prevention policies have been well received.”

(IMAGE: AP/Pixabay)