Beijing Beijing Daily — Beijing is busy preparing for the arrival of foreign athletes and leaders for the opening Friday of the Winter Olympics, which will coincide with the Chinese New Year celebrations and be held under tight security due to the outbreak of the virus. The opening ceremony on February 4 will be attended by leaders such as Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Argentina’s Alberto Fernandez, Ecuadorean Guillermo Laso or United Nations Secretary Antonio Guterres.
Between February 4-6, Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has not left China since the beginning of the epidemic, will have a busy schedule maintaining “bilateral activities” with some of the leaders present, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. .
On the other hand, representatives of countries that have decided to implement a diplomatic boycott of the Games due to alleged human rights violations by Beijing, including the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom or Canada, will not attend the ceremony.
In recent days, many athletes have appeared in Beijing, which will host about 2,900 athletes representing 90 Olympic committees in these games and which will become the first city in the world to host the Summer and Winter Games.
However, participants will remain practically invisible to Beijing residents, as they will be confined to closed circuit or bubble areas, where they will be cut off from any contact with local residents for the duration of their stay.
The Olympic bubble will host about 11,000 people, including athletes and workers who will participate in the Beijing Olympics.
Under normal circumstances, China’s borders are practically closed to non-resident foreign visitors, and anyone who has access to the country is required to self-quarantine for at least 14 days in a hotel room at their own expense.
Since overseas athletes and workers are not subject to the usual quarantine, Beijing has decided to lock them up in the so-called closed circuits that run between the three venues of the Olympic events: Beijing itself, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou, 80 and 180 kilometers apart. , respectively, from the center of the capital.
The transportation of bubble athletes and technicians between places will also be strictly controlled: Beijing traffic authorities recently published guidelines so that Beijing residents know how to act in the event of a collision with one of the bubble vehicles, which will be marked as such, to reduce the risk of infection due to contact with their passengers.
The Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee clarified today that bubble members are subject to daily PCR tests, and since January 23, 139 positives have been detected upon arrival in China or while staying in the closed circuit.
Without the protection of the bubble, it will be difficult for Beijing to accept this figure, which has been dealing with its own cases of local infection in recent days and, like the rest of China, has implemented a policy of no virus spread.
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isolated. The Beijing Olympic Bubble will host 11,000 people, including athletes, workers and co-organizers.
measures. Bubble members will undergo daily PCR tests. They will also go through a closed circuit in which the procedures are very strict.
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