78 Covid-19 Cases Found Among Beijing Olympics Early Arrivals

78 people tested positive for Covid-19 at Beijing’s main airport ahead of the Winter Olympics, media outlets reported on Monday.

The arrivals who tested positive included a team member but it is not known if the member is an athlete or official. Officials conducted covid testing of 529 Olympic-related arrivals at Beijing Capital International Airport.

The arrivals included 153 athletes and team officials, along with 376 other stakeholders – a category that includes the media and Games partners.

Officials from the International Olympic Committee said those who tested positive had been isolated and their close contacts identified, according to a technical briefing on Sunday.

Participants in the Games are already in a “closed loop” on arrival in Beijing, to minimize the risk of spreading Covid-19 in a city that is already battling to contain outbreaks of the Omicron and Delta variants.

In accordance with the Beijing 2022 Olympics playbook, positive cases will be able to take part once they have returned two negative tests.