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Beijing Winter Olympics 2022
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Officials wear protective gear at Beijing Capital International Airport amid Covid-19 fears as the city prepares to host the Winter Olympics. Photo: Kyodo
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Beijing 2022: Winter Games’ ‘closed loop’ impenetrable, IOC director Christophe Dubi says as Chinese capital prepares to seal itself off from outside world

  • In an interview with the ‘Post’, Dubi says there is no Plan B, insisting the Winter Games’ anti-coronavirus bubble ‘will not be breached’
  • The Games are to be held in three zones across Beijing, the city of Zhangjiakou and the district of Yanqing
Beijing Winter Olympics 2022
Cat Wang
Cat Wang
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Organisers of February’s 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing said they were confident its coronavirus prevention measures “will not be compromised”, as the Chinese capital tightens Covid-19 rules ahead of the Games.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Director Christophe Dubi told the Post there would be no transmission between those inside and outside the “closed loop”, a sealed-off area where the Games will take place across three zones.

“The measures that [Beijing’s organisers] have in place, they went to a great length for everyone,” Dubi said.

“No one in the Olympic system coming from outside … will contribute to the Games organisation as an intention for this loop to be breached, because we know how important it is for the integrity of the Games themselves.”

When asked whether the IOC had prepared a contingency plan for the closed loop, Dubi declined to answer, emphasising its plans for transport, logistics and laying “physical boundaries” across venues.

“I’m not even going there, because having seen the plan in action now, every day out there in the venues … it will not be breached,” he said.

A worker wearing personal protective equipment at the National Alpine Ski Centre venue for the Beijing 2022 Winter Games. Photo: AFP

The closed loop will encompass living quarters, competition venues, training venues and other official facilities the public will not have access to. All participants with direct access to the events, including referees, team officials and media representatives, are required to stay inside the bubble until the end of the Games.

They can travel in designated vehicles to a range of “permitted destinations” inside the grounds, which spans three zones across Beijing, the city of Zhangjiakou and the district of Yanqing.

Residents line up at a football field for coronavirus testing in Tianjin municipality, after the city experienced new positive cases of Covid-19. Photo: AP
Beijing city authorities have told residents to avoid all contact with Olympic vehicles, even if a road accident takes place, and instead wait for “professionals” to arrive on the scene.

In the past week, Beijing has stepped up health checks on all inbound travellers as it tries to stop the spread of Covid-19 to the capital, weeks before it hosts the Winter Olympics.

The city’s Covid-19 prevention and control office on Wednesday said there would be “more rigorous checks” on arrivals to the city, a move that coincided with the discovery of a suspected case in Beijing’s southern Fengtai district that had originated from Tianjin.

Those entering Beijing from within China will need to show negative test results, but further details have yet to be provided.

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