“Zero Covid” Olympics. Such is the ambition of the Chinese authorities. No question of lifting the bell under which the country has lived since the appearance of the coronavirus in Wuhan two years ago. Has been set up a “closed circuit”, an airtight bubble in which athletes, officials and journalists are confined.
“In front of the Beijing Olympic sites, the flags and decorations are installed, recount CNN. But there are also long rows of barriers and surveillance posts to isolate the Chinese capital’s festivities and block access to anyone without an official health pass. In this bubble, specifies the American channel on its website, it will be a question of managing 11,000 people – including 3,000 athletes – from all over the world, who will navigate between the three competition sites, some of which are 180 kilometers apart.
These strict conditions have not made it possible to avoid dozens of cases since January 23, when descending from the plane or within the bubble. The organizers counted 287 on February 2.
How will this “closed circuit” work?
“Participants will be confined to this ‘closed circuit’ from their landing to their departure”, writes the site CNN. During their entire stay, they will have no contact with the Chinese population. the “closed circuit” brings together a series of stadiums, conference centers and more than 70 hotels. Hotels located in Beijing are fenced and closely guarded by the police.
More than a single bubble, resumes the American media, “the system is a network of interconnected microbubbles”, between the three competition sites: Beijing (skating), Yanqing (alpine skiing) and Zhangjiakou (Nordic skiing). trains and buses, “which will run parallel to the public transport of the population”, precise Al-Jazeera, will connect the three
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