Coronavirus: ‘China must learn from Tokyo and open up for 2022 Winter Olympics’

Name: As Summer Olympics draw to a close, Beijing prepares for Winter Games
Uploaded: 2021-08-23T13:30:13.000Z
Duration: 1 min 58 s
Description: As Summer Olympics draw to a close, Beijing prepares for Winter Games

‘Impossible’ to ask athletes to undergo 14 days’ quarantine and a week’s monitoring, says former top epidemiologist and member of experts’ groups for 2022 games

The Beijing organising committee should reach an agreement on Covid-19 control measures with the IOC, he suggests

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There are about five months to go until the Winter Olympics in Beijing. Photo: AP

Holly Chik

Published: 9:30pm, 23 Aug 2021Updated: 11:01pm, 23 Aug 2021

China must reopen its borders in time for the Beijing Winter Olympics in February, a leading Chinese scientist has said.

“China cannot isolate itself from the world when it hosts the Winter Olympics,” Zeng Guang, a former chief epidemiologist with the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Monday.

“It would be impossible” to ask foreign athletes to undergo hotel quarantine for 14 days, followed by a week of health observation, Zeng – who is also part of expert consultation groups for the games in China – told Chinese news portal NetEase Technology.

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As Summer Olympics draw to a close, Beijing prepares for Winter Games

“The Winter Olympics is the next important juncture, especially when [coronavirus] prevention in winter will be more difficult. But our country must manage it well to prevent the virus from being transmitted [among athletes or to locals].”

Weather does not affect Covid-19 transmission significantly, according to the World Health Organization. But during winter people tended to stay indoors, in enclosed or crowded places with poor ventilation, which can aid virus transmission.

Zeng said a Chinese team of more than 30 had been sent to the Tokyo Olympics to observe Covid-19 control efforts, and the Beijing organising committee should reach an agreement on Covid-19 control measures with the International Olympic Committee.

In Japan, where the Tokyo Paralympics start on Tuesday, International Paralympic Committee head Andrew Parsons said the success of the games depended on whether organisers would be able to control coronavirus infections.

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