Martin Quin Pollard, Pawel Kopczynski

BEIJING (Reuters – Arrivals to the Beijing Winter Olympics will be met by personnel wearing white protective suits. After passing COVID-19 and swabs of their baggage, they are taken on board police-escorted buses that take them to fenced off hotels.

Contrary to last year’s Tokyo Games which were held in a “bubble”, Beijing’s “closed Loop” is sealed off and protected. These precautions will come under scrutiny as Omicron’s highly transmittable variant rises worldwide.

Security personnel guarded the Main Media Center’s entrance this week. Police cars and officers sat near the gate. Temporary fences posted warnings to anyone in the vicinity about the “end” of the closed loop.

After being inside, they cannot leave the country until they complete at least several weeks of quarantine or depart. The loop will be accessed by approximately 20,000 Chinese volunteers as well as staff from the venues.

Participating from overseas, mostly on charter flights that are not standard, will be allowed to enter the loop when they arrive at Beijing Capital International Airport. Early arrivals claim that their buses were escorted by police to their hotel.

The authorities are determined to put a barrier between the participants and the public. Beijing officials warned residents to avoid designated Olympic transport cars in the case of an accident.

State media reports that the loop began Jan. 4, and will be fully open by January 23, depending on state media. The loop includes sealed-off areas at Olympic venues as well as designated accommodation. Participants will need to use the designated transport for moving between them.

Organisers said that COVID-19 case will be found in the bubble. But, on Tuesday, they stated that no changes are planned to the protocols except for the possibility of many more cases. It was not clear whether any COVID-19 cases were found by personnel from the Games that began on February 4.

Beijing Games will not have international spectators, although organizers are yet to confirm how many will be local.

DAILY TESTS GREEN CODES

China has managed to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in China since its emergence two years ago. The country is almost closing its borders to foreigners. There was little doubt, however, that Beijing Games would go ahead as scheduled, contrary to Tokyo where they were delayed for a year.

According to Michael Baker, a professor of public and health at Otago’s Wellington University, “Ultimately, I believe it will be hard for China to stop widespread Omicron transmission.”

Every member of the loop should have a daily test for PCR administered by staff. Tests were mostly self administered in Tokyo.

Participants must scan their passes before they can leave their accommodations. Wait for the green code to verify that there has been a negative result in less than 24 hours.

Delivering food to restaurants located outside of the loop is forbidden. Some of the food at the main press center is prepared by robot chefs who assemble hamburgers from an overhead grid and then deliver them to the tables.

Organisers say that more than 2000 international athletes will be coming to China to compete in the Games. They also expect 25,000 stakeholders. Organisers did not say how many would be in the closed loop.