China acknowledged on Tuesday that the new Omicron variant would mean additional difficulties for the organization of the Beijing Winter Olympics (February 4-20) but reaffirmed its confidence in the success of the event.
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"
This will certainly bring some challenges in terms of fighting the epidemic,
" Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, conceded at a press conference.
"
But China has experience in this area and I am fully convinced that the Winter Olympics will go smoothly and as planned,
" he said.
China has largely controlled the epidemic on its soil thanks to draconian measures: very strong limitation of international flights, mandatory quarantine on arrival, massive screenings or even isolation of contact cases, identified thanks to travel tracking applications.
Life largely returned to its normal course in the spring of last year.
But the country is still faced with the appearance of small sporadic outbreaks.
While the Chinese borders have been practically closed since March 2020, the Beijing Games will take place in a health bubble from which the some 2,900 expected athletes will not be able to get out.
They must either be vaccinated or undergo a 21-day quarantine upon arrival.
All will be screened daily.
Only spectators residing in China will be able to attend the events.
China reports only a few dozen cases of Covid-19 every day.
The Omicron variant has not yet been detected in the country, except in the autonomous territory of Hong Kong.