Agency Report

Beijing Olympics organisers said Thursday that there were no new Covid cases in the “closed-loop” bubble for the first time, hailing the success of China’s strict approach.

There were fears ahead of the Olympics that Covid could badly impact the Games, especially with the more contagious Omicron variant.

The nearly 3,000 athletes and more than 60,000 support staff, volunteers, journalists and others are cocooned inside a vast bubble where they must be tested every day and wear a mask at all times.

There have been 435 cases in the bubble since January 24, when official figures began to be released, among them an unknown number of athletes.

But the daily number of positive Covid tests inside the bubble has been dwindling as the Games reaches its conclusion on Sunday, with no positive PCR tests on Wednesday.

“It proves that the countermeasures inside the closed loop have been effective,” said Huang Chun, from the local organising committee’s office of pandemic control.

“Through hosting the Games successfully and the successful implementation of the countermeasures, that is a successful model for Olympic Winter Games against the backdrop of Covid-19.”

AFP