With nearly 70,000 people inside Beijing’s “closed loop” taking Covid tests every day, not a single case was detected on Wednesday, the first day of the Games that was entirely free of new cases.
It was the clearest sign yet that the mammoth efforts to prevent an Omicron outbreak among foreign visitors had been successful, with three days remaining until the closing ceremony. China has gone to great lengths to prevent athletes and visitors from mixing with the general population and has placed stringent requirements on entry to the country.
So far, at least 507 people with Olympic credentials, including 183 athletes and team officials, have tested positive for the coronavirus in China, either at the airport on arrival in China or within the Olympics “closed loop.