In a month to the day, on February 4, the Olympic flame will light up in the Beijing National Stadium, also nicknamed the “Bird's Nest”.
But it is not yet known whether this ceremony will take place in front of the public or in an empty stadium due to the health situation and the increase in cases caused by the new variant with the consequence of the confinement of several cities.
What we do know, however, is that the Chinese authorities have decided to set up a health bubble to avoid any contact between people coming from abroad and the local population.
This anti-Covid health "closed loop" was established on Tuesday, before the arrival of the first foreign participants, around the sites of the Beijing Olympic Games, which promises to be the most politically controversial and the most closely watched of the pandemic era.
Much more than those of Tokyo where, however, health vigilance was omnipresent.
The aim of this bubble is to avoid any contact between people from abroad, the 3,000 athletes - including 61 French - and their support staff, as well as the local population.
Barriers have been installed to keep passers-by at a safe distance from facilities planned for the Games, such as the “Bird's Nest”.
"Within the closed loop, we are going to put in place very strict health measures, including daily Covid screening tests, to ensure that cases of contamination are quickly detected", explained to AFP Zhao Weidong, communications manager of the organizing committee.
„Schneller, höher, stärker - gemeinsam!“ In nur noch einen #Monat werden die #Olympischen #Winterspiele # Beijing2022 ❄️ offiziell eröffnet.
Auf welche Wettbewerbe freuen Sie sich am meisten?
Wer ist Ihr Lieblingsathlet?
🎿⛷️🏂 pic.twitter.com/DAEBFbrT45
- Chinesische Botschaft in Österreich (@chinaembaustria) January 4, 2022
All foreign participants must be vaccinated, the others being subject to a 21-day quarantine.
"We also strongly recommend receiving a booster dose," Zhao told AFP before the bubble was put in place.
We are closely monitoring the new Omicron variant and its global impact.
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The Chinese authorities have also specified that they are in close communication with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) "to ensure that there will be room for maneuver in countermeasures depending on the epidemic situation".
The Chinese athletes and staff inside the bubble (volunteers, drivers, cooks, etc.) will only leave after the Paralympic Games, scheduled for March 4 to 13, and after having observed a quarantine period.
Spectators - if their presence is permitted - will not enter the bubble.
When moving from one site to another, foreign participants will remain separated from the local population, for example with reserved cars on the high-speed train leading to the ski slopes.
China, where the pandemic was first detected at the end of 2019, has largely eradicated the disease by resorting to very strict screening, tracing, containment and vaccination measures.
Its borders were practically closed in March 2020 and international flights drastically reduced.