Third Foreign Athlete COVID-19 Positive in Beijing

Athletes take part in an ice hockey training session as health workers (top) stand by during a 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games test event, at the National Indoor Stadium in Beijing on Nov. 11, 2021. (Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty Images)

China reported on Nov. 18 a third COVID-19 case among foreign athletes in warmup events for the upcoming Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

The athlete tested positive on Nov. 14 and has been sent to a quarantine hotel, Zhao Weidong, the spokesperson of the Winter Games, told reporters at Thursday’s briefing.

The competitor didn’t show any symptoms, said Zhao, adding the athletes is a close contact of the previously confirmed case.

On Nov. 12, the authorities reported two luge competitors who arrived on a charter flight infected with COVID-19.

The organizers didn’t disclose the identities or nationalities of any of the three.

More than 1,500 athletes have arrived in the country for the luge training week and the Luge World Cup which serves as test events for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

Beijing implements strict COVID-19 protocols for the Games, requiring participants to receive daily PCR tests and remain in a ”closed-loop” system limiting their movements.

China is reportedly experiencing the most widespread outbreak since the first appearance of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus in Wuhan city in late 2019. The current wave of infections has expanded to 21 of 31 provinces on the mainland, including the capital Beijing, prompting the authorities to double down on efforts to track potential carriers and increase restrictions on movements.

Beijing’s Olympics official said last month the COVID-19 outbreak poses the biggest challenge to the Games.

The Games are set to be held from Feb. 4 to Feb. 20 amid growing calls for a boycott over the CCP’s persecution of Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong.