Story at a glance
- Two athletes have tested positive for COVID-19 during Olympic test events in Beijing, Games organizers said Friday.
- Huang Chun, deputy director of the pandemic prevention office for the Games, did not reveal the athletes’ home countries.
- The International Olympic Committee will require a three-week quarantine period for all unvaccinated athletes and staff attending the Winter Games, according to “playbooks” released in October.
Two athletes have tested positive for COVID-19 during Olympic test events in Beijing, Games organizers said Friday.
Huang Chun, deputy director of the pandemic prevention office for the games, said the two who tested positive are among the 1,500 athletes who’ve entered the country since October to participate in the test events, The Associated Press reported. Huang did not reveal the athletes’ home countries.
Nearly everyone who enters China must undergo a strict, two-week quarantine period regardless of test results and vaccination status, the AP noted. But the requirement was waived for test and Games athletes, who will live among other participants and be closed off from the rest of China.
“Closed loop management not only serves the Games well, but also prevents further spread of the virus,” Huang said, per the AP. “This is our goal.”
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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will require a three-week quarantine period for all unvaccinated athletes and staff attending the Winter Games, according to “playbooks” released in October.
Full vaccination is required 14 days prior to departure in Beijing in order to circumvent the quarantine period.
“We want everyone at the Games to be safe, that’s why we’re asking all participants to follow these guidelines,” Christophe Dubi, the IOC’s Olympic Games executive director, said in a release.
“Keeping everyone healthy will ensure the focus remains on the very fundamentals of the Olympic and Paralympic Games – the athletes and the sport.”
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