Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Committee Says 11 People Are Hospitalized For COVID-19

Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Athletes Village in Zhangjiakou, China. (Wikimedia Commons/N509FZ)

JAKARTA - Eleven personnel related to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics have been hospitalized for COVID-19 in the Chinese capital since January 23 out of a total of 232 positive cases, Brian McCloskey, chair of the Beijing 2022 panel of medical experts, said on Wednesday.

Organizers recorded 32 cases in the last 24 hours, 15 of which were from new arrivals at the airport.

McCloskey further said none of those hospitalized were in serious condition, with the overall daily figure set to begin to fall as the number of participants arriving began to decline.

"Since January 23 there have been 232 cases, 163 from the airport and 69 from the closed loop", McCloskey said.

In total, some 3,000 athletes, along with coaches, officials, federation delegates and media are expected to take part in the Beijing Winter Olympics from February 4 to 20.

They will remain in a "closed circle" to prevent contact with the general public, moving between accommodation and the Olympic venue by official transport.

Not only that, they are also being tested for COVID-19 every day, as part of efforts to quickly identify infections in the loop.

"Right now we're not seeing any significant spread in circles. We're not too worried", McCloskey said. More than 540,000 tests have been carried out since January 23.

"They're not going down right away but when we get to a steady number of people then we expect it to go down. The reality is every country in the world has a higher rate of COVID-19 than China", McCloskey said of positive cases.

"The reality is every country in the world has a higher rate of COVID-19 than China."

Among the cases announced on Wednesday was, an unidentified member of the German team who has been transferred into isolation without symptoms, the second case from the German Olympic team in recent days.

"We were expecting that but overall, I have to say the track record with lots of people coming in and testing negative, then staying negative for one, two, three days is very encouraging. Because they have a big chance to stay negative in the circle", Germany team leader Dirk Schimmelpfennig told a news conference.

Team members wishing to return to training and competition must be asymptomatic, and give two negative tests 24 hours apart before being released from quarantine.

In contrast to many countries planning to live with COVID-19, China has adopted a zero-tolerance policy, involving strict border controls and canceling nearly all international flights.

Please note, all participants of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics arrived in China on charter flights.