Safety first for Olympics participants

The Olympic flame for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games on display in Beijing's Olympic Tower on Oct 20, 2021. (Photo/Xinhua)

The overall situation in terms of COVID-19 prevention is under control within the closed loop of the Beijing Winter Olympics and it is safe for all Games participants, organizers said on Tuesday.

Huang Chun, deputy director-general of the pandemic prevention and control office of the Beijing organizing committee, said during a briefing on the Games that although there are more positive cases reported as more participants arrive, due to the strict management in the Games' closed loop, strict personnel protection and frequent nucleic acid testing, there is no large-scale spread within the closed loop.

"During the past two days, we had fewer athletes and participants arriving and also fewer positive cases. We can see that the change in number is related to the number of participants arriving," Huang said.

"We think the overall situation is under control. It is safe for all participants of the Games and there's no need to worry. We're not considering major adjustments to countermeasures because we think it's effective so far."

According to the organizers, on Monday, 1,438 Olympic-related arrivals entered China at the airport, including 379 athletes and team officials and 1,059 other stakeholders. Among them, 18 were confirmed COVID-19 positive, with 11 being from athletes and team officials and seven from other stakeholders.

In the closed loop during the same time, 63,548 tests had been taken, 3,103 by athletes and team officials and 60,445 by other stakeholders. Six were confirmed positive after the tests, with five being from athletes and team officials and one from other stakeholders.

All Olympic-related personnel who have entered China and Games staff implement closed-loop management and are completely separated from main society.