Organisers have conceded a "certain number" of infections at Beijing 2022 are likely ©Getty Images

Organisers of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics have conceded that there will be some COVID-19 cases during the Games.

Rigorous countermeasures have been promised, including daily testing and the implementation of a "closed-loop management system" whereby participants can only use dedicated transport to move between venues.

Those who are not fully vaccinated will have to undergo 21 days of quarantine in order to enter the system, while foreign spectators have been banned from the Games.

A second edition of the playbooks, providing guidance for those involved at Beijing 2022, was released earlier this month.

However, Organising Committee vice-president and secretary-general Han Zirong admitted the protocol is unlikely to be enough to prevent some infections.

"A large number of people from different countries and regions will come to China and the flow of people will increase," Han said, as reported by Reuters.

"Consequently, a certain number of positive cases will become a high probability event."

China has implemented some of the world's toughest restrictions since the beginning of the pandemic, including strict lockdowns of cities affected by outbreaks and largely closing its borders to international travel as part of a so-called "zero-COVID" strategy.

Strict COVID-19 countermeasures have been promised for Beijing 2022, including all participants only using designated transport to travel between venues ©Getty Images
Strict COVID-19 countermeasures have been promised for Beijing 2022, including all participants only using designated transport to travel between venues ©Getty Images

It has reported almost 130,000 infections and a little fewer than 5,700 deaths.

According to Reuters, four cases of the Omicron variant have been detected in China from international arrivals.

However, Huang Chun from Beijing 2022 argued that the rules in place will help to deliver the Games as safely as possible.

"We firmly believe these COVID prevention measures can reduce the risk of infection spreading, and can ensure the health of the athletes and other games personnel," he commented.

He added that close contacts of confirmed cases will be permitted to compete on condition of returning a negative test.

Han urged all participants to receive booster vaccination doses before travelling to the country, as reported by the state-run CGTN.

The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics are set to take place from February 4 to 20, with the Winter Paralympics following from March 4 to 13.

Yesterday, the National Hockey League confirmed that its players will miss a second consecutive Olympic Games owing to the disruption caused by the pandemic to its regular season.