MASTV:

I have a question about the pandemic. As cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 have been identified in many countries, will the latest pandemic situation have any impact on preparations for the Beijing Winter Olympics? Will you upgrade the current pandemic prevention and control measures? What kind of measures will the committee take to ensure safety and prevent the spread of the pandemic? Thank you. 

Zhao Weidong:

I will answer your questions. We are also paying close attention to relevant information about the Omicron variant, and monitoring and assessing its potential impact on the Beijing Winter Olympics. Relevant pandemic prevention and control measures stipulated in the Beijing 2022 Playbooks are based on rigorous and scientific assessments, which proved effective in ensuring safety and pandemic prevention and control during the recent test events. There can be no successful Olympic Games without the safety of epidemic prevention, so we have always made prevention and control work the top priority. During the Beijing Winter Olympics and the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games, we will implement a series of comprehensive prevention and control measures to minimize the risk of imported cases, guarantee the health of all participants as well as residents of the host cities, and ensure the safe and smooth running of the Winter Games as scheduled. 

Pandemic control is key to the success of the Beijing Winter Olympics, and the Beijing 2022 Playbooks is the foundation of epidemic prevention and control. Together with the IOC and the IPC, we have published the first editions of the Playbooks. Not only all overseas participants but also relevant staff at home must strictly follow the guidelines detailed in the Playbooks. So I hope that our media friends pay more attention to the Playbooks, as they are an important foundation for our epidemic prevention and control efforts. Together with the IOC and the IPC, we will release the second version of the Playbooks this month. As for the second version, we continue to make the health and safety of all participants and the Chinese public our top priority, as well as strengthening far-end control, strictly implementing vaccination policies, carrying out strict entry inspections and adhering to the closed-loop system after entry. As I just mentioned, the closed-loop management does not keep people in one place. Rather, it covers all Games-related areas which are connected by special transportation modes. The closed-loop management system not only satisfies the needs of participants but also adequately separates them from the Chinese public. We implement closed-loop management strictly. At the same time, we adhere to normalized prevention and control measures throughout the closed-loop management process. 

We have also incorporated the prevention and control work of the Winter Games into the unified epidemic prevention and control systems of local governments. The epidemic prevention and control work of Games-related areas and related activities has been included in the unified epidemic prevention and control management of local authorities. We will spare no effort to ensure that epidemic prevention and control measures are followed, strengthen efficient coordination, conduct internal and external linkage, and perform respective functions to jointly implement prevention and control measures and ensure the safety of all participants and epidemic prevention and control on the domestic level.