Covid: 11 Beijing Olympics personnel hospitalised

Eleven Beijing Olympics-related personnel have been hospitalised with Covid-19 in the Chinese capital since January 23 out of a total 232 positive cases, Brian McCloskey, chair of the Beijing 2022 medical expert panel, said on Wednesday.

Organisers recorded 32 cases in the past 24 hours, 15 of which among new airport arrivals.

McCloskey said none of the hospitalised individuals were in serious condition and the overall daily figure would start to drop once the number of participants arriving begins to decrease.

“Since January 23 there have been 232 cases, 163 from the airport and 69 from the closed loop,” McCloskey said.

About 3,000 athletes, along with coaches, officials, federation delegates and media are expected for the February 4-20 Games and the “closed loop” will allow them to move between accommodation and Olympic venues on official transport.

They are not allowed to move freely in public and are tested on a daily basis in an effort to identify any spread within the loop quickly.

“At the moment we have seen no significant spread within the loop. We are not particularly worried about,” McCloskey said. More than 540,000 tests have been conducted since January 23.

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“They (numbers of positive cases) won’t go down immediately but when we get to a stable number of people, then we expect it to go down,” McCloskey said. “The reality is every country in the world has a higher level of Covid-19 than China does.”

In contrast to many countries seeking to live with Covid-19, China has isolated itself with a zero-tolerance policy, cancelling nearly all international flights. All participants are arriving on special charter flights.

• Asia