The flame will be
displayed only in enclosed venues that are deemed “safe and controllable,”
according to officials.
No public transit
routes would be disturbed and normal life would continue for the 20 million
residents of the capital, where a handful of new COVID-19 cases have been
recorded over recent days.
Beijing’s deputy
sports director, Yang Haibin, said safety was the “top priority,” with the
pandemic, venue preparations and the possibility of forest fires in Beijing’s
cold, dry climate all factored in.
The relay will run
from Feb. 2-4, taking in the three competition areas of downtown Beijing, the
suburb of Yanqing, and Zhangjiakou in the neighboring province of Hebei.
The Games have already
been impacted on a scale similar to that experienced by Tokyo during last
year’s Summer Olympics.
China says only selected spectators will be
allowed to attend the events, and Olympic athletes, officials, staff and
journalists are required to stay within a bubble that keeps them from contact
with the general public.
The opening of the Games comes just days
after the start of the Lunar New Year holiday, China’s biggest annual
celebration when millions traditionally travel to their hometowns for family
reunions. For the second year, the government has advised those living away
from home to stay put, and train and plane travel has been curtailed.
Participants in the torch rally will
undergo health screens and be carefully monitored, starting from two weeks
before the event begins, said Xu Zhijun, deputy head of the organizing
committee.
Beijing reported its first local omicron
infection on Jan. 15, and 11 cases had been confirmed in the capital as of
Thursday afternoon, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
Outside of Beijing, several million people
remain under lockdown as part of China’s “zero-tolerance” approach to dealing
with the pandemic that has been credited with preventing outbreaks on the scale
of the U.S. and other countries.
Numbers of new cases have dropped
substantially in recent days amid strict adherence to masking, travel
restrictions and school closures, along with a vaccination rate that now tops
85%. Some medical experts worry a lack of exposure to the virus could harm the
Chinese population’s ability to deal with future waves of infection.
The scaled-down torch relay is a far cry
from 2008, when Beijing sent the Olympic icon on a global journey ahead of its
hosting of that year’s Summer Games. The relay drew protesters against China’s
human rights violations and policies in Tibet, Xinjiang and elsewhere, leading
to violent confrontations and the cancellation of some overseas stages.
The Winter Games have been beset by similar
political controversies, alongside medical considerations.
Six weeks ago, the United States, Britain
and several allies said they would not send dignitaries to attend the Games as
a protest against human rights abuses by the Communist Party regime.
Athletes have been threatened by the
organizing committee with “certain punishments” for saying or doing anything
that would offend their Chinese hosts, while several delegations urged anyone
headed to Beijing to take “burner” phones instead of their personal devices
because of concerns their personal information could be compromised.
The National Hockey League cited uncertainty
caused by the pandemic to hold back all of its players from the Olympic
tournament.
And earlier this week, American broadcaster
NBC said it won’t be sending announcing teams to China, citing the same virus
concerns raised when the network pulled most of its broadcasters from the Tokyo
Games.
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