Another 100-day countdown

The countdowns seem to be pretty prevalent the last few years. There was the original one-year countdown to Tokyo 2020 that turned into a second one-year countdown when the Olympics were postponed. There were celebrations for six months out for Tokyo (twice) and another for the upcoming Beijing Games. 

Today, the countdown clock toward Beijing turns to 100 days. That doesn't seem like a short period of time, but in the overall perspective, it is not a long period of time. The process for Beijing began well over a year ago and amped up before Tokyo even happened this summer, as I was sending money to China before I left for Japan. So 100 days is a relatively short period of time.

Yesterday also saw the release of the first edition of the playbooks, which are the documents that detail the processes that the press (and other Olympic family members) have to go through before leaving for China, once they are there and as they prepare to leave. These playbooks were implemented for the Tokyo Games and serve as the basic guidelines for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Since I had no games yesterday, I sat in the office and read through this first version of the playbook.

It does seem like there are a lot of things that Beijing took from Tokyo's plan to attack COVID, as we will be tested regularly (it appears they will be daily tests in Beijing), we have to test before we leave and we will be working in a 'closed loop' system while we are there, meaning there shouldn't be any contact with people outside of the Olympic bubble. We will be allowed to move between venues, the media hotels, the media centers and the Olympic village using the media transport system. This is essentially what we were allowed to do in Tokyo as well.

A difference here is that any media member who is not vaccinated will have to spend 21 days in quarantine upon arrival. Obviously, this would be detrimental to anyone who wants to cover the Olympics, since you would have to be in quarantine the entire games unless you arrive three weeks early, which I imagine could get expensive. 

There were also some unusual notes in the playbooks, noting that all flights must arrive at a certain airport and must not go through any other city in China before arriving in Beijing. I have already filed a question with Beijing 2022, since the flight I already booked goes through Hong Kong. I am not terribly interested in rebooking my flight. Additionally, getting COVID tests before we leave is a concern, since we are supposed to only use a list of providers that the Chinese consulate provides, but that seems like a difficult list to find. Tokyo provided us with a list of approved providers well in advance of the Summer Olympics, so here's hoping Beijing comes through with the same thing.

There was plenty of apprehension heading to Tokyo back in July and I will say, there's a little apprehension heading to Beijing in February, but I feel that organizers are doing a good job working to keep everyone safe, so assuming everything goes as planned the next 100 days or so, it should be another unique experience.

There are 100 days to go until the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

First look at the protocols

 In my last blog post, I speculated that the COVID-19 protocols put into place for the Beijing Olympics in February were going to be a pain. After a summer of protocols in Tokyo, this comes as no surprise to me and I am prepared for what comes down the pike.

Much to my surprise, the first step in those protocols was released shortly after the last blog post, as the Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee presented its key COVID-19 countermeasures to the International Olympic Committee Executive Board Meeting. While these were not the detailed measures that we need to follow, they were an overall look at what we should be seeing when we as media arrive in China for the Olympics this coming winter.

While vaccines are not mandatory, anyone who has not received one of the COVID vaccines will have to serve a 21-day quarantine upon their arrival in Beijing. This goes for athletes and other games participants.

Those who are vaccinated will enter what Beijing is calling a "closed-loop management system" upon their arrival and will remain in that closed loop for their entire time in China. This sounds a lot like what we did in Tokyo.

The closed-loop management system will cover all games-related areas, including arrivals and departures, transportation, accommodations, catering, competitions and the opening and closing ceremonies. Within this closed loop, participants will be allowed to move only between games-related venues for training, competitions and work using a games transport system.

Additionally, all participants will be subject to daily COVID-19 testing.

Beijing 2022 also announced that they are selling tickets to spectators in China who meet the requirements of COVID-19 countermeasures, so there is a pretty good possibility that the stands won't be empty like they were in Tokyo.

While these are not specific, these restrictions are much like what we experienced in Tokyo. For our first 14 days, we could only move through the venues, accommodations and media center using dedicated taxi services or special media buses. From the sound of it, Beijing won't be "releasing" us like Tokyo did after 14 days.

This is good in one way, as it limits our exposure to the outside world, however, it makes it tough to see anything outside of the Olympics. There were things in Tokyo that I would have loved to see, but it just wasn't possible. It's hard to know exactly what the situation will be in Beijing, but it sounds like it will be much the same.

The first playbooks, which provide the media, athletes, coaches, etc. with many more details about what the policies will be for each individual group, are expected to be released later this month and at that point I will have a better idea exactly what I have to prepare for. My guess is there will again be some sort of short quarantine upon arrival, though this time my accommodations are a little more accommodating with restaurants and food options available.

And an interesting tidbit that came to my attention during the Patriots game on Sunday night, is that the Super Bowl will be played while I am in China and it will also be airing on NBC along with the Olympics. It will be interesting to see if it's possible to watch the game in China, though it would be on first thing on Monday morning over there.

The Winter Olympics kick off in China in February and the first steps in the COVID-19 protocols were released last week.