Itil a few months ago, China harbored the hope that the Winter Olympic Games (OG) scheduled for its capital (February 2 to 20) could be the first “post-pandemic” ones. With the Delta variant, then the arrival of the very contagious Omicron, the case was however a pipe dream. In the country which was the home of the first contaminations, at the end of 2019, and which has since applied a drastic “zero Covid-19” strategy, we suspected that the health thing was not going to be taken lightly.
In fact, all participants in the Games (athletes, management, media representatives, etc.) had to show their credentials before being able to enter the territory: a complete vaccination schedule, under penalty of carrying out a period of isolation of twenty and one day on the spot in a special establishment; a follow-up of the daily state of health to be entered during the fourteen days preceding the arrival in China in an application created for the occasion; two PCR tests to be carried out within ninety-six hours before departure; and, finally, two QR codes – one for health, the other for customs – to be obtained in order to be able to board one of the rare planes specially chartered for these Games.
But that’s not all…because before being able to board for Beijing-Capital International Airport – the only authorized point of entry for foreign travelers going there for the fortnight -, body temperature passengers was again checked. With the risk of not being able to board.
“Some passengers will not travel with us today,” thus announced, Sunday, January 30, the captain, explaining that the flight would, in fact, be a little late. Their baggage had to be unloaded. No respite either once on the plane. In addition to the compulsory surgical mask, the flight personnel were decked out in a protective visor and latex gloves. A hostess confided that the crew did not have the right to disembark on Chinese soil and would continue on their way to Seoul (South Korea).
Three PCR tests in four days
As the approximately ten hours of flight – in social distancing – came to an end, the temperature of the passengers was again raised. Then, on the tarmac, we had to wait for the inspection of the aircraft by the Chinese authorities before being able to disembark.
Hardly had they passed through the door of the plane, and here again, the “Covid-19” variable of these Winter Games was obvious: the passengers were greeted by staff in full white protective suits, blue overboots and leather gloves. latex, faces covered by a surgical mask and large laboratory goggles.
From the outset, the employees indicated the path to follow to carry out a new PCR test – the third in four days, therefore. But this time, double punishment: oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal! However, the organization is extremely efficient: in no time, the test was done, and customs cleared.
It was once we arrived in one of the airport terminals – emptied of any souls other than the travelers of the day and the staff in anti-Covid-19 gear – that things went wrong. The French National Olympic Committee had warned before departure: prepare to spend several hours in Beijing-Capital.
Each passenger was given a sheet on which were the names of the various hotels which will welcome the participants of the Games and, next to it, the number of the corresponding bus. For each place, a specific shuttle. Woe to anyone who would be tempted to do so because all the establishments are surrounded by metal barriers and a security gate: it is impossible to reach two hotels on foot, even if they are only a few hundred meters apart. .
The participants housed at the Zhangjiakou site, the furthest from the capital – some 180 kilometers to the north – where the cross-country skiing and biathlon events will take place, were the first to be called. Followed those for Yanqing, which hosts the alpine and downhill skiing events (bobsleigh, luge, skeleton). Travelers remaining in Beijing will still spend nearly two hours there before finally being able to reach their place of residence.
Since January 23, 232 cases of Covid-19
It took more than four hours on the road, escorted by police cars and with several breaks on motorway service areas (part of which is exclusively reserved for transport for the Games) to reach Zhiangjiakou. And almost eight hours after landing, after having served the establishments in the area one by one, to finally arrive at the hotel.
But the journey was not quite over, as a new checkpoint awaited travelers. Invited to leave their passport and accreditation in exchange for their room key, they were especially given this instruction: to leave only when the results of the test carried out at the airport were communicated to them by telephone. Provided, of course, that it is negative.
The arrival in the Olympic bubble, is deserved. Stay there too! For fifteen days, each day will begin with a PCR test (only oropharyngeal this time and without obligation of isolation pending results, only positive cases are contacted). In public areas of hotels or at the entrance to competition venues and other press rooms, body temperature will be checked.
In the bars and restaurants, each seat is already delimited by Plexiglas walls: in the hotel reserved for journalists from the World, in Zhangjiakou, breakfast is thus served in a room where they are, moreover, oriented in the same direction. And it will always be necessary to provide daily information on your state of health on the dedicated application… On Wednesday February 2, 232 cases of Covid-19 had been counted since the entry into force of the system on January 23.
Beyond the purely health aspect, another challenge is to quickly become familiar with the logistical subtleties, in particular the bus routes serving hotels, press centers and competition sites – where security checks are reinforced. To get to the biathlon, it takes three changes. Again, be careful not to miss it. Because if the passages of the shuttles will be readjusted on the days of the events, the risk of ending up waiting a long time in the freezing cold of Zhangjiakou (which borders on – 10 ohC during the day, – 20 ohC the night) is very real.
Still, the staff and volunteers are very considerate. This is enough to alleviate the anxiety-provoking climate of these Games.
Beijing 2022 Olympics to read