Enter the ‘closed loop’: What life is like for Olympians in Beijing amid Covid concern
BEIJING — The athletes have arrived, competition has begun and Friday’s spectacular ceremony opened the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. But for the athletes and the others attending, this year’s Games will be markedly different from those that came before.
Participants and foreign visitors will be kept inside what organizers refer to as the “closed loop.”
Designed to prevent Covid from spreading, it keeps residents far apart from the visitors, so China can host the Olympics and still pursue its “zero-Covid” strategy which has been in place since the pandemic first broke out in Wuhan in 2019.
It presents unique challenges for teams and athletes, just like it did during the Tokyo Summer Games last year.
“This year, it’s been an absolute nightmare, it’s definitely a more complicated Olympics,” American snowboarder Jamie Anderson told a news conference Wednesday.
Those entering the “closed loop,” are required by the organizers to be fully vaccinated at least 14 days before they arrive, or they would have to quarantine for 21 days once they landed in China.
After touching down at the Beijing Capital International Airport — the only airport approved for arrivals — participants have to show proof of two negative Covid-19 tests, before taking another one. Daily tests are required once they are inside the bubble.
Once inside the “closed loop,” layers of fencing separate people from the outside world, while guards stand by to ensure that no one leaves or enters without authorization.
Transport for visitors, including high speed trains with separate carriages and entrances and exits, ferries those inside the bubble from facility to facility.
Given the restrictions, public spaces at venues are largely empty, supporters and visitors absent. Athletes’ friends and family members have stayed home. The Chinese support staff are required to take Covid tests to enter the bubble and then quarantine for 21 days after they leave, reducing the risk of possible spread even further.
Inside the broadcasting center, the base for members of the media, there are screens showing some of Beijing’s attractions. It is as close as they will get to the city’s tourist hot spots.
However, the draconian measures have not stopped infections, though they have been relatively low given the thousands of arrivals. Forty-five Covid cases were reported within that bubble on Friday, the second-highest daily number since arrivals began, according to Reuters. A total of 353 people involved in the Games have tested positive for the virus since Jan. 23.
Those who do test positive are sent to isolation hotels where they have no physical contact with anyone.
