Winter Olympic hell as 11 rushed to hospital and 232 self-isolating after Covid outbreak

Key numbers ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics

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News about the Olympics-related personnel receiving treatment came as there have been 232 positive cases in Beijing since January 23, Brian McCloskey, chair of the Beijing 2022 medical expert panel, said. He revealed that organisers have recorded 32 cases in the past 24 hours, 15 of which were among new airport arrivals.

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

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

The event will see around 3,000 athletes, along with coaches, officials, federation delegates and media descend on the Chinese capital for the games – which start on Friday.

In an effort to stem the infections, they will live in a “closed loop” which will allow them to move between their accommodation and Olympic venues on official transport.

Part of this means 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.

Mr McCloskey said: “At the moment we have seen no significant spread within the loop. We are not particularly worried about (it).

“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.

“The reality is every country in the world has a higher level of Covid-19 than China does.”

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Unlike many other countries which have accepted that they will have to live with Covid, China has adopted a zero-tolerance policy.

Any outbreaks of the virus, however small, have been met with strict lockdowns – often lasting weeks.

In an effort to stop the international visitors from spreading the virus, more than 540,000 tests have been conducted since January, according to organisers.

All the participants will arrive on special charter flights too.

Xi Jinping’s Government has also shortened the Olympic torch relay, which is due to begin today.

The route will take the flame to landmarks including the Great Wall and Summer Palace is far more modest than the globe-spanning tour ahead of Beijing’s 2008 Summer Games.

And because of Covid only selected members of the public will witness the relay.

“That is, of course, bad luck but what can you do?”, Georgios Iliopoulos, Greece’s ambassador to China and a torch-bearer, said.

“You cannot stop life and we do the best we can to continue with what we have to deal with. The main thing is we keep together at this and leave it behind us as soon as possible.”

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