Advertisement
Advertisement
Coronavirus pandemic
Get more with myNEWS
A personalised news feed of stories that matter to you
Learn more
There are about five months to go until the Winter Olympics in Beijing. Photo: AP

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

  • ‘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

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.

01:58

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

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.

‘China’s only option’: is it time for Beijing to learn to live with coronavirus?

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.

“We don’t feel the presence of the Paralympics here will have a direct impact on raising the number of cases or even decreasing the number of cases,” Parsons told Kyodo News on Saturday.

According to the International Olympic Committee, the cumulative Covid-19 positivity rate among Olympic Games participants from July 1 to August 8, when the event ended, was 0.02 per cent.

04:50

What can Beijing 2022 learn from the pandemic-delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics?

What can Beijing 2022 learn from the pandemic-delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics?

Athletes were tested at least twice before they arrived in Japan. They were then tested at the airport upon arrival and every day during their stay at the Olympic Village, the IOC said.

“If an athlete arrived in Tokyo on July 18 and left on August 10, that person was tested at least 26 times,” it said.

Almost all of the IOC members and staff arriving in Japan were vaccinated, while 85 per cent of residents at the Olympic Village were vaccinated, it added.

The Covid-19 measures in Tokyo were developed by the Tokyo organising committee, IOC and IPC, in close collaboration with the Japanese government and Tokyo metropolitan government.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: China urged to open borders in time for Winter Olympics
18