Uptick in COVID cases among Olympic athletes, team officials reported days before games set to begin

Days ahead of the start of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, officials have reported an uptick in COVID-19 cases among team officials and athletes.

The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics’ organizing committee said on Saturday that 36 COVID-19 infections had been detected in athletes and team staff, including seven who were in a “bubble” that is separate from the public, Reuters reported. Twenty-nine tested positive after arriving at the airport.

“Everyone is concerned that the test result will suddenly turn out to be positive. But the reality is such that we are living with COVID. We accept all the risks and fears,” Anton Slepyshev, a Russian hockey player, told RIA Novosti news agency, according to Reuters.

During a news conference, Olympics medical chief Brian McCloskey said that officials were expecting the peak of infections to happen now given the number of people entering the country for the games, the news outlet noted.

McCloskey underscored it was unlikely that the public would be affected by the recent infections.

The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics are set to begin in a matter of days, on Feb. 4