Lausanne, Switzerland, Feb 2 : The organizers of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing are ready to step up anti-COVID-19 measures if the epidemiological situation gets worse, Chair of the Medical Expert Panel of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Brian McCloskey said on Wednesday. “We do not set thresholds in terms of specific numbers because of what we have found in the past, that is not necessarily helpful. The main challenge is not the number of cases, it is the indication of whether there is spread within the closed loop. So, what we look for, is indication of cases being linked to each other,” McCloskey said at a press conference, adding that “If we find that it was evidence that there was sustained committee transmission, then we will activate … response plan.”
The enhanced response plan will include “a more aggressive approach to contact tracing” in addition to more testing and isolation. The entire infrastructure of the Games is located within a so-called Olympic bubble, which delegations are strictly forbidden to leave. COVID-19 cases are being detected among the athletes and delegations daily. The Olympic Games will be held from February 4-20 and the Paralympic Games from March 4-13.
The upcoming Games are notable for the fact that the competitions will be held simultaneously in three host zones – Beijing (hockey, figure skating, speed skating, curling), Zhangjiakou (biathlon, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, ski jumping), and Yanqing (alpine skiing, bobsleigh, skeleton and luge sport). Accordingly, there are also three Olympic villages at this year’s Winter Olympics in China.
