Covid-19

Beijing records surge in Covid cases as 119 test positive before Winter Olympics

By Medicc Saves
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Airport staff wearing hazmat suits assist passengers at Beijing International Airport as passengers disembark a flight after arriving ahead of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games in China. Picture date: Monday January 31, 2022. PA Photo. See PA Story OLYMPICS Beijing. Photo credit should read: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: Use subject to restrictions. Editorial use only, no commercial use without prior consent from rights holder.

The Haiti ski team is stopped by Covid officials after landing in Beijing (Picture: PA)

Beijing has been hit with a Covid outbreak just days before the Winter Olympics kicks off.

Despite adopting a zero-Covid policy and a ‘closed loop’ bubble for athletes, Chinese officials say they’ve recorded 119 cases among competitors and team officials over the past four days.

Most of the cases tested positive when they arrived at the airport, but it threatens to throw the Games into turmoil.

Millions of people are set to be tested in the Chinese capital in a bid to stamp out community transmission of Omicron – the highly transmissible variant surging throughout Europe.

Some 3,000 athletes, along with coaches, officials, referees, federation delegates and journalists are descending on Beijing for the Games.

The ‘closed loop’ will allow them to move between accommodation and Olympic venues on official transport but they are not allowed to move freely in public.

Biathlete Valeria Vasnetsova confirmed she was one of three Russian cases announced today.


Great Britain's Katie Ormerod (left) and Katie Summerhayes ahead of their departure to Beijing for the The 2022 Winter Olympics, scheduled to take place from 4 to 20 February 2022. Picture date: Thursday January 27, 2022. PA Photo. See PA Story OLYMPICS Britain. Photo credit should read: Steven Paston/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: Use subject to restrictions. Editorial use only, no commercial use without prior consent from rights holder.
Great Britain’s Katie Ormerod (left) and Katie Summerhayes depart for Beijing (Picture: PA)

PCR testing staff wearing hazmat suits work at a PCR testing site at Beijing International Airport as passengers disembark a flight after arriving ahead of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games in China. Picture date: Monday January 31, 2022. PA Photo. See PA Story OLYMPICS Beijing. Photo credit should read: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: Use subject to restrictions. Editorial use only, no commercial use without prior consent from rights holder.
Health officers in hazmat suits get their Covid testing bubbles ready at Beijing International Airport (Picture: PA)

‘Unfortunately, my Olympic dream will remain just a dream,’ she said. ‘Maybe one day I will find the strength to rise again but it will be a completely different story.’

Olympic athletes must fly directly into Beijing on charter flights and are tested daily.

However, some athletes have been testing positive before arriving in China.

The world’s leading women’s ski jumper, Marita Kramer from Austria, is rescheduling her departure to get healthy in time for the competition.


PCR testing staff wearing hazmat suits work at a PCR testing site at Beijing International Airport as passengers disembark a flight after arriving ahead of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games in China. Picture date: Monday January 31, 2022. PA Photo. See PA Story OLYMPICS Beijing. Photo credit should read: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: Use subject to restrictions. Editorial use only, no commercial use without prior consent from rights holder.
This is what awaits athletes heading to Beijing for the Winter Games (Picture: PA)

Airport staff wearing hazmat suits at Beijing International Airport as passengers disembark a flight after arriving ahead of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games in China. Picture date: Monday January 31, 2022. PA Photo. See PA Story OLYMPICS Beijing. Photo credit should read: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: Use subject to restrictions. Editorial use only, no commercial use without prior consent from rights holder.
China is enforcing a zero-Covid policy but it hasn’t prevented a surge in cases (Picture: PA)

A message written on the back of a member of airport staff at Beijing International Airport as passengers disembark a flight after arriving ahead of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games in China. Picture date: Monday January 31, 2022. PA Photo. See PA Story OLYMPICS Beijing. Photo credit should read: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: Use subject to restrictions. Editorial use only, no commercial use without prior consent from rights holder.
Mass testing is being enforced throughout Beijing (Picture: PA)

Russian skeleton racers, Nikita Tregubov and Vladislav Semyonov, will also miss the Games after testing positive before their departure.

But there was good news for the Australian curling team after Tahli Gill returned two negative tests following an initial positive.

Gill and teammate Dean Hewitt had been in isolation for two days after she tested positive at Beijing airport.

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