It was thought that the Tokyo Olympics this summer had reached the pinnacle in terms of organizational problems because of the Covid-19.

Well no.

The Beijing Winter Games, which take place from February 4 to 20, 2022, are also entangled in a lot of concerns related to the health situation.

The Chinese authorities, who follow a policy of zero contamination, have taken great steps to eradicate a very limited epidemic outbreak in recent days in the north of the country.

On Tuesday, the large city of Lanzhou, located 1,700 km west of Beijing, quarantined its 4 million inhabitants, invited to stay at home unless absolutely necessary, following the discovery of a few dozen case.

“The pandemic is the number one challenge for the running of the Winter Games,” the vice-president of the organizing committee, Zhang Jiandong, summed up to the press.

The Games will take place in a bubble

A dozen provinces, or a third of the total, have stepped up prevention measures, including the city of Beijing, where 20 cases of contamination have been counted in the past week.

The measures planned for the Games "will reduce the risk and impact of the coronavirus," Zhang promised, while warning that participants who did not observe the rules would be penalized.

The 2022 Games will take place in a "bubble" intended to eliminate any risk of contamination to the rest of China.

The 2,900 expected athletes must either have been fully vaccinated or undergo a strict 21-day quarantine upon arrival in the country.

Only spectators already present in China will be able to attend the events.

The authorities have also planned 300 negative pressure ambulances to transport possible patients, without the risk of contaminated air spreading outside.

The province of Hebei, which surrounds Beijing, announced for its part the establishment during the Games of mobile laboratories which will be able to perform 40,000 screening tests per day.

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