China’s Omicron threat ‘under control’, no lockdown planned for Beijing Winter Olympics, organisers say
- Organising committee says coronavirus clusters can be contained within the Games ‘bubble’ and protocol will only be changed due to a large-scale outbreak
- China’s pandemic controls are being tested by sporadic coronavirus outbreaks, including the first local infections of the highly-transmissible Omicron variant
China has no intention of locking down its capital or changing its coronavirus containment rules for the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics, despite growing concern about local transmission of the Omicron variant, the organising committee said on Tuesday, though it is closely monitoring new virus clusters.
“The overall situation remains under control,” said Huang, who is in charge of pandemic prevention efforts. He added there was no plan to seal off Beijing or the neighbouring province of Hebei.
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China creates Olympic Covid ‘bubble’ as Xi inspects venues ahead of Beijing Winter Games
European diplomats have expressed concern to the South China Morning Post that Beijing’s Olympic “bubble” might not be tight enough to prevent an imported coronavirus infection spreading from participants to the public. They also questioned if a detailed emergency plan was in place to contain an outbreak among participants.