BEIJING (NEXSTAR) – The Beijing Winter Olympics are operating under a ‘closed-loop system.’ So how does the system work?
Limited movement, frequent testing, and mask-wearing are all part of the strategy to limit the spread of COVID-19 at the Beijing Olympics.
Everyone involved in the Games is operating in a bubble.
“It’s a pretty strict command and control of what is going on here, so as long as the staff and the people working the event are under similar sorts of confines and testing strategies then it actually should work to keep infection numbers down,” said Dr. Stephen Thomas, SUNY Upstate Director of Global Health.
Dr. Stephen Thomas said vaccines and boosters will be a game changer, however, “The thing that is not working in your favor is that this omicron variant is much more infectious than what was circulating around the globe at the last Olympics.”
Testing at the airport and daily testing in the bubble should help limit the spread, said Dr. Brian McCloskey, chair of the Beijing 2022 Medical expert panel. “After four or five days in the closed loop, the risk comes down to the local population risk, very, very low,” said Dr. McCloskey.
Athletes are also part of the bubble and tested daily.
“Our team has a pretty tight bubble, we’re doing daily antigen testing, wearing masks in the house most of the time, trying to keep our distance and having good protocol,” said Julia Kern, who is competing in cross country skiing.
Everyone is doing their best to stay safe and grateful for the chance to compete.
