Beijing’s Olympic ‘bubble’ will be the most ambitious Covid quarantine ever attempted. Will it work?

Having been largely sealed off from the world for two years, Beijing is bracing itself for the arrival of thousands of foreign Olympians, officials, journalists and support staff — including from countries where the highly transmissible Omicron variant is raging.Whether Chinese authorities can keep the Games Covid-safe and prevent any flare-ups from spilling into Beijing is the ultimate test of China’s zero-Covid strategy. The stringent prevention and control measures are held up by the ruling Communist Party as proof of the self-proclaimed superiority of its authoritarian political system. The strategy has kept infections and deaths low — but it has also inflicted painful lockdowns on millions of people and isolated China from the world.And now, Beijing is applying those same measures to the Olympics. To limit the spread of infection, it is sealing the entire Games inside what authorities have called a “closed loop system” — a bubble completely cut off from the rest of the city. The quarantine is arguably the most ambitious of its kind ever undertaken. The NBA attempted something similar, when it created a quarantine zone inside Disney World in Orlando, Florida, designed to keep players and staff safe for the final stages of the 2019-20 season. But what Beijing is about to attempt is on a whole other level. Chinese authorities did not reveal exactly how many workers will be inside the “closed loop system.” Already in the bubble are thousands of Chinese volunteers and staff, including organizers, health care workers, drivers, cleaners and chefs. The first batch of volunteers — 16 students from a university in Beijing — entered the “closed loop” on January 3 to work at the Beijing Capital International Airport, before the first Olympic flight arrived.The Chinese staff and volunteers are required to stay throughout the event — meaning they will miss the Lunar New Year holiday. It’s the biggest festival in China and the most important time for families to get together — likened by some to Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Years combined. To exit the bubble, they must also undergo 21 days of strict quarantine at a designated facility.Chinese organizers have touted the innovative technologies adopted inside the bubble to keep it Covid safe. At the stadium for ice hockey, staff will wear all-day armpit thermometers, which will sound the alarm should someone’s temperature exceed 37.3 degrees. Inside a “smart canteen” at the main media center, robots make Chinese and Western dishes and cocktails behind glass screens, while meals are delivered from the ceiling by automated robot arms.Will it work?The IOC has suggested the early detection of Covid-19 cases among arrivals is a sign the “closed loop system” is working.”All data to date provides confidence that daily PCR testing combined with the isolation and close contact policies in place means that the Closed Loop is very safe and there are no infectious participants within it,” it said in the statement.Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, said it was unsurprising — and even inevitable — to see cases inside the Olympic bubble.’);$vidEndSlate.removeClass(‘video__end-slate–inactive’).addClass(‘video__end-slate–active’);}};CNN.autoPlayVideoExist = (CNN.autoPlayVideoExist === true) ? true : false;var configObj = {thumb: ‘none’,video: ‘world/2022/01/17/beijing-shanghai-china-covid-omicron-case-olympics-dnt-newday-vpx.cnn’,width: ‘100%’,height: ‘100%’,section: ‘international’,profile: ‘expansion’,network: ‘cnn’,markupId: ‘body-text_51’,theoplayer: {allowNativeFullscreen: true},adsection: ‘const-article-inpage’,frameWidth: ‘100%’,frameHeight: ‘100%’,posterImageOverride: {“mini”:{“width”:220,”type”:”jpg”,”uri”:”//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/220117090113-culver-china-omicron-dnt-1-small-169.jpg”,”height”:124},”xsmall”:{“width”:307,”type”:”jpg”,”uri”:”//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/220117090113-culver-china-omicron-dnt-1-medium-plus-169.jpg”,”height”:173},”small”:{“width”:460,”type”:”jpg”,”uri”:”//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/220117090113-culver-china-omicron-dnt-1-large-169.jpg”,”height”:259},”medium”:{“width”:780,”type”:”jpg”,”uri”:”//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/220117090113-culver-china-omicron-dnt-1-exlarge-169.jpg”,”height”:438},”large”:{“width”:1100,”type”:”jpg”,”uri”:”//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/220117090113-culver-china-omicron-dnt-1-super-169.jpg”,”height”:619},”full16x9″:{“width”:1600,”type”:”jpg”,”uri”:”//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/220117090113-culver-china-omicron-dnt-1-full-169.jpg”,”height”:900},”mini1x1″:{“width”:120,”type”:”jpg”,”uri”:”//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/220117090113-culver-china-omicron-dnt-1-small-11.jpg”,”height”:120}}},autoStartVideo = false,isVideoReplayClicked = false,callbackObj,containerEl,currentVideoCollection = [],currentVideoCollectionId = ”,isLivePlayer = false,mediaMetadataCallbacks,mobilePinnedView = null,moveToNextTimeout,mutePlayerEnabled = false,nextVideoId = ”,nextVideoUrl = ”,turnOnFlashMessaging = false,videoPinner,videoEndSlateImpl;if (CNN.autoPlayVideoExist === false) {autoStartVideo = false;autoStartVideo = typeof CNN.isLoggedInVideoCheck === ‘function’ ? 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outside the bubble and cause outbreaks in the city and beyond.”Huang added he was “cautiously optimistic” that China’s zero-Covid strategy could succeed, citing the “unprecedentedly stringent measures.”Earlier this month, the Omicron variant was detected in the community in Beijing, prompting authorities to swiftly lock down an office building and a residential compound. Several Delta cases have also since been reported.Authorities warned of the “double pressure of domestic and imported cases,” yet still struck a confident tone.”The overall situation remains under control,” Huang Chun, an official with the Beijing Organizing Committee, said at a news conference last week. He added there were no plans to seal off the city or change the coronavirus containment rules for the Winter Olympics.