Four-time Olympic sled athlete Elana Meyers Taylor will no longer lead the way for Team USA. She joined the U. S. as a flag bearer at the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics after testing positive for covid-19 two days after arriving in China, and she represents just one of 69 positive cases of Covid-19 in the Olympic bubble since testing began on Jan. 23.
Olympic athletes, team officials and other staff at the Beijing Winter Games will have to comply with strict regulations after arriving in China to prevent the spread of Covid-19, such as being internal the “closed circuit system” that is absolutely separated from the rest of the city and subjected to daily testing.
Meyers Taylor, who is asymptomatic and is in a solitary confinement hotel, told the Washington Post, “All they told me was, ‘Go into the bubble, once you get into the bubble, everything is fine,'” she and her circle added relatives. have done everything imaginable to avoid Covid-19 over the past two years.
However, even within the “closed loop” bubble, athletes and education are testing positive for covid-19.
On Tuesday, six athletes and team officials in the bubble tested positive, along with 11 other members.
Since January 23, there have been 69 cases of Covid-19 within the Olympic bubble, while 11 have been hospitalized with Covid-19.
Brian McCloskey, head of the Games’ panel of medical experts, said Wednesday that organizers would do more and touch the tracking if they discovered evidence of “sustainable network transmission. “
To emerge from isolation to participate in the bobsleigh festival that begins Feb. 13, Meyers Taylor will have to test negative twice in a row. Meyers Taylor posted on Instagram that she “remains positive that I will be able to do it temporarily and that I will still have the opportunity to compete. “
Covid cases among Olympic athletes and training staff inside the Olympic bubble may pose a significant challenge to Beijing’s strict “Covid Zero” policy, which includes mass checks and the closure of parts of the city where they are detected. covid infections. All staff traveling to Beijing for the Winter Games will need to test negative for Covid twice within 96 hours of their flight to China, test negative again at the airport on arrival, and then undergo daily PCR checks. Those who are not fully vaccinated against the virus will be required to quarantine for 21 days upon arrival. Athletes who test positive in the Olympic bubble and who are asymptomatic, like Meyers Taylor, are sent to an isolation center, and those who test positive and show symptoms get treatment at a designated hospital. Outside the Olympic bubble, Beijing reported its highest number of Covid-19 cases in the previous 18 months this week. Beijing officials have cordoned off several residential communities in the city after two cases were detected earlier this week to curb the spread.
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