2022 Winter Olympics: What are the COVID safety protocols for athletes?

With the 2022 Winter Olympics right around the corner, there will be plenty of COVID precautions each participating athlete will need to be mindful of. 

Feb. 4 can’t get here soon enough, as it will mark the official start of the 2022 Winter Olympics over in Beijing. This is something folks across the world have been looking forward to for quite some time.

Countless athletes will be ready to give it their all to try and bring home a medal. With that said, we can’t just forget about COVID-19 and how it continues to spread. Because of that, there are some safety protocols that everyone will have to follow.

2022 Winter Olympics COVID protocols includes ‘closed-loop system’

Leading up to the Olympics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that there will be a ‘closed-loop system’ in place. This means that the athletes will use official Olympics transport to and from their assigned accommodations to the venues of their event. This will take place from start to finish during their stays in Beijing.

The IOC said this is being done so that the athletes will have zero contact with the public, which would significantly lower their risk of potentially catching the Coronavirus.

Do Winter Olympics athletes have to be vaccinated from COVID?

Folks out there are likely wondering what the vaccination requirements are for the Olympics. As it turns out, people do not have to be vaccinated in order to compete. However, if unvaccinated, then an athlete would need to arrive to a designated facility and quarantine for 21 days leading up to things.

Once the quarantine is completed, they’d then be able to try and go win a medal. As for people who are vaccinated, they’ll be able to enter the closed loop without having to quarantine.