The Beijing Winter Olympics is drawing near. China’s Health Commission reported 18 local cases of the virus on Sunday, half of which are in Beijing.
Just one day earlier, the Games’ organizers reported 72 positive cases among the service staff. And one athlete or official was tested positive on Sunday. Due to China’s lack of transparency and history of underreporting pandemic data, NTD can’t independently verify that information.
Beijing authorities are mass-testing around 2 million residents in a local district that they marked as high-risk. They’re urging residents there to stay in Beijing.
Meanwhile, it’s hard for people to get into the city. Vehicles heading to Beijing are tightly controlled by local authorities. Those vehicles can only enter if they’re labeled as having special circumstances.
The Olympics is set to start next Friday.