More Than 1 Million People To Join Beijing’s Olympic Bubble

As the Covid-19 outbreak continues to spread, Chinese residents are growing more passionate about the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, with many applying for volunteer roles even as restrictions tighten.

More Than 1 Million People To Join Beijing’s Olympic Bubble

According to a story published on Monday by the state-run newspaper Global Times, more than 1 million people have applied to labor unpaid during the Beijing Games, which begin in February. More than 1 million individuals have applied since the application process started over two years ago. Over 20,000 volunteers were selected from this enormous pool, with most of them coming from Beijing and the surrounding Hebei area, where the bulk of the students are from.

There has been an increase in contenders as Beijing prepares to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics at the same time. Olympic language and massive state media coverage have made it a huge source of pride for the country. According to official media reports, more than 1.2 million applications were received by the Beijing Summer Olympic Committee before the Games.

The 2018 Winter Olympics, on the other hand, will be held in a radically different setting since China is one of the few remaining supporters of the “zero-Covid” policy. Chinese officials show no signs of abandoning their objective of a virus-free society, imposing rigorous precautions and limiting borders, even while other countries in the region and throughout the world continue to open up and “live with Covid.” More than a third of China’s provinces and territories have seen an upsurge in the number of cases of the virus in the previous few weeks. Because of this, authorities have imposed travel restrictions and put millions of people under forced lockdowns in their jurisdictions.

Some parts of the problem are similar to the pandemic-affected Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, which were held earlier this year amid the backdrop of a Covid epidemic in the host country. Throughout July and August, the city of Tokyo declared a state of emergency due to a rise in the number of new cases.

The public’s enthusiasm for the Games waned as a consequence of the Japanese government’s stubborn insistence on hosting them despite the Covid danger. There were at least 10,000 volunteer withdrawals by mid-June owing to concerns about Covid, which was the most common reason given by those who had joined up for the Games. There was no protection against Covid other than cotton masks and hand sanitizer, and they added since they were still waiting for the vaccination. When it comes to Covid prevention in China, there seems to be no skepticism, which may be a sign of public trust in the country’s efforts.

Before the Tokyo Olympics, China’s immunization program was executed at a rapid pace and with extraordinary efficiency. According to the National Health Commission, more than 2.2 billion pills had been distributed throughout China as of Tuesday. ” China has established a “Covid-safe bubble” around Beijing to avoid an outbreak of the virus in the city. With this plan, sports fans will not be a part of the city’s population. Residents of the People’s Republic of China will be the only ones able to watch the games.