China's zero-COVID policy has some asking how Winter Games can go on during omicron surge
Nancy Armour- China's zero-COVID policy has meant some cities have been locked down for weeks when cases emerge
- Learning from the Tokyo Olympics, organizers say they can host a Winter Games safely
- COVID protocols include an app to track athletes and all stakeholders, plus robots to deliver food
Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir will be sitting in Connecticut rather than rinkside at the Beijing Olympics. Athletes who have recovered from COVID could wind up stuck in quarantine rather than standing atop the medals podium. And Chinese officials are petrified of piercing the very strict bubble the country has been under the past two years
The omicron wave that is still surging across the globe presents a direct conflict to China’s zero-tolerance policy for COVID, leaving many to ask the question: Why are the Beijing Olympics still going ahead?
“Sure, they can happen. Japan has proven you can do it successfully. But I think it depends on what are the expectations,” said Tara Kirk Sell, a senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and a 2004 Olympic silver medalist in swimming.