24 Jan 2022 – The COVID-19 countermeasures for the Olympic Games Beijing 2022 have been refined by the Organising Committee and the Chinese authorities, in consultation with medical experts and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). They have been developed in order to further adapt to the reality of the current environment and support the Games participants.

The new measures come into effect immediately , and will apply retrospectively.

Definition of “positive”

For both airport testing and screening testing, participants whose PCR results have a Cycle Threshold (CT) greater than or equal to 35 will:

• Be managed in the same way as close contacts for seven days
• Not generate any close contacts.

Those with a PCR result of less than 35 will be considered positive.

Discharge from isolation

Those participants with a PCR result with a CT of less than 35, and therefore positive, will be required to isolate in the designated isolation facilities.

If positive participants spend 10 days or more in isolation, then they can be released to their original Games-time accommodation if:

• They are not displaying any COVID-19 symptoms
• Their PCR results have a CT value of greater than or equal to 35 for the previous three consecutive days.

Once rejoining the closed loop, each person will be managed as a close contact. Should the participant’s PCR results in the following days have a CT value of less than 35, they will not be returned to isolation and will continue to be managed as a close contact. 

The rule that allows all people testing negative for two consecutive days to be released as a close contact (for seven days) remains in place.

Close contact duration

The time period for which a person is deemed a close contact is reduced from 14 to seven days. 

During that period, testing will be carried out twice daily. Close contacts will be able to choose whether their PCR test sample is collected as a nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal swab.

Persistently positive cases

For participants who repeatedly receive test results with a CT of less than 35, a separate policy that will enable them to return home at the earliest possible time is being developed jointly by Beijing 2022 and the IOC, and will be communicated separately.