On Friday, 19 new COVID-19 positive cases were reported among those inside the closed loop of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, while 26 more were found at the airport, according to an official news release .

That pushed the total number of positive cases to 353, highlighting the pressure the Games' organizers face in controlling the novel coronavirus and preventing the pandemic from ruining the Olympics.

The holding of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics on schedule is in itself quite a feat, made possible thanks to China largely controlling the virus. The Tokyo 2020 Olympics was delayed for a year.

But that does not mean people are completely safe. Since many parts of the world still see daily infections in the hundreds of thousands, China's prevention and control measures can never be considered too tight. On Friday, 27 new infections were reported in the Chinese mainland, of which nine were locally transmitted ones. That's a reminder the virus should never be let loose.

With the strict closed-loop system that separates Olympic participants from local residents, the strict prevention and control measures can help to build a safe environment for athletes so that the latter can concentrate on the competition. For that purpose, as early as Oct 24, 2021, the organizers released a handbook on the pandemic prevention protocols for the Games. On Jan 27, the handbook was updated to cope with the changing pandemic situation in the face of the Omicron variant of the virus..

The anti-pandemic efforts apply to everyone, and mean to protect everybody and are in the interests of all. It is the efforts of the pandemic control staff that prompted International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach to praise the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics as being "very safe".

We hope that being safe and happy in Beijing will enable all the competing athletes to perform to their best.

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