200 cases in No-Covid-Land: Omikron rushes through the Olympic Village

200 cases in no-Covid-land
Omicron rushes through the Olympic Village

China boasts of its zero-Covid strategy, but now the Beijing Winter Olympics are approaching. Everyone involved has to test themselves every day, and new positive cases occur every day. Top athletes are also affected, including a medal competitor of the German bobsleigh pilots.

A few days before the start of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, the organizers have counted 200 corona cases since January 23. On Monday, 24 more corona cases were found. As the organizing committee announced, 18 people entering the country tested positive for the corona virus, including eleven athletes or team members. Infections were also registered in six people who are already in the closed Olympic system. The day before there had been a total of 37 positive tests.

One of those affected is Elana Meyers Taylor, one of the great rivals of German bobsleigh pilots. The silver medalist from 2014 and 2018 announced on Twitter that she had tested positive. She has no symptoms and is in an isolation hotel, wrote the American.

“This is just the latest obstacle my family and I have encountered on this journey, I remain optimistic that I can recover quickly and still have an opportunity to compete.” This season, Meyers Taylor won the World Cup in two-man bob ahead of Laura Nolte and also the classification in monobob. The training runs in Beijing start on February 10th, the competition in the newly introduced monobob takes place on February 13th and 14th. In the doubles on February 18th and 19th it’s all about the medals.

Son and husband also tested positive

So there was enough time for the young mother, whose son Nico and husband Nic also tested positive, as she revealed to “USA Today”. Nic Taylor is also part of the USA bobsleigh team as a substitute, and he takes care of the youngsters in isolation. “Not being able to be with my son is probably the hardest part of the whole situation,” Meyers Taylor said. “I was here in October and had some good runs, so I’m confident,” she said, emphasizing: “Even if I can only do one training run, I’ll give everything.”

A strict corona security concept applies to the Winter Olympics in Beijing. Everyone involved – from athletes to journalists – is completely segregated from the rest of the Chinese population. In order to detect infections as quickly as possible, each participant must complete a daily PCR test within the Olympic bubble.

Anyone who has contracted the virus will be isolated in a specially designated hotel. Only after two negative PCR tests at least 24 hours apart can those affected leave before the end of ten days. After this period, only a negative PCR test is required.

The People’s Republic of China is pursuing a strict “zero Covid” strategy, in which even smaller strands of infection are being combated with tough measures. In the past few weeks, the authorities have imposed lockdowns in several cities in the country.

source site-33