Olympic organizer not expecting more large fluctuations in COVID-19 cases

An Olympic organizer said he is not expecting more large fluctuations in COVID-19 cases as fewer people arrive in Beijing for the Winter Games.

Huang Chun, the Games’ deputy director-general of the office of pandemic and control, said the number of positive COVID-19 cases increased as more people arrived in Beijing for the event, but that trend has dropped after the opening ceremony.

Huang said there will likely be fewer COVID-19 cases with fewer inbound flights.

“After the opening ceremony on Friday there is a drop in arrivals and we have even less inbound flights, which means there will be fewer positive cases,” Huang said, according to Reuters.

“We hope that we can keep that trend going and there might be just minor fluctuations,” he added.

Huang did, however, say officials must ensure that mitigation measures are still being enforced inside the “closed loop” to steer clear of internal spread. The “closed loop” is a bubble enforced to keep Olympics personnel healthy during the event.

“We have to pay attention to measures in the closed loop. We do not see any cluster spread and so far it has not affected the smooth progress of the competitions,” Huang said, according to Reuters.

He also said if health precautions are followed, the number of cases connected to the Games “will remain at relatively low levels.”

“If we all follow the countermeasures, I believe the level of positive cases will remain at relatively low levels,” Huang said, according to Reuters.

The Winter Olympics kicked off on Friday.

China reported 10 new COVID-19 infections among personnel associated with the Olympics on Sunday, according to Reuters, which was lower than the 45 cases reported the day prior.

Four of the additional cases were individuals who had just arrived in the country for the Games, according to Reuters, including two athletes or team personnel. The other six individuals had already been in the “closed loop.”