OLYMPIC GAMES ENCOUNTERS UNPRECEDENTED CHALLENGES FROM COVID-19

Since the first modern Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, in 1896, there have been several human plague pandemics that disturbed the Games. Before the Antwerp 1920 Olympic Games, the Spanish flu outbreak caused tens of millions of deaths worldwide; at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games, H1N1 Flu was a dominant influenza strain in many parts of the world; the Rio 2016 Olympic Games were almost destroyed by the Zika virus; before the opening of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games in 2018, some security personnel were infected with the norovirus.

However, throughout the 126-year history of the Olympic Games, there has never been a public health event with so wide a range and so long a duration like the COVID-19 pandemic. Its sudden outbreak in 2020 has had a serious impact on global social and economic development, and brought unprecedented difficulties and challenges to the world's sports events like the Olympic Games.

During the Beijing Winter Games, athletes, coaches, sports off icials, media workers and other related personnel from all over the world will gather in Beijing and Zhangjiakou of Hebei Province. From their entry into China to intra-city and inter-city transportation, from dining halls to competition venues, direct or indirect "close contact" will be inevitable. Due to potential mutations of the COVID-19 virus, the strong transmission power and long incubation period, infected people may not be identified in time. So, during the whole process of the Olympic Games, relevant personnel will face the risk of infection, and a little carelessness may cause the spread of the epidemic.

EMERGENCY RESPONSES BUILD LINE OF DEFENSE

In the face of the epidemic, Chinese President Xi Jinping has had on-site inspections of venue preparations for the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games on many occasions, in order to ensure a "simple, safe, and splendid" Winter Olympics that is wonderful, extraordinary, and outstanding for the world. And Xi called for working hard with full confidence, overcoming difficulties to achieve excellent performances, and ensuring the success of events through well-organized measures on epidemic prevention and control.