New figures released by Beijing 2022 show that yesterday’s total count included 19 athletes and team officials following their arrival into China.

Almost 3,500 attendees have landed in the Chinese capital over the past three days with 54 of those testing positive for COVID-19.

There have been 22 cases among athletes and team officials since January 23, with a large bulk of those coming yesterday.

Dr Brian McCloskey, chief of the Beijing 2022 Medical Expert Panel, insisted the figures were "in line with what we would expect to see" and said they anticipated the COVID-19 tally to keep increasing.

"We are now just going through the peak period for people arriving into China and therefore we expect to see the highest numbers at this stage," said McCloskey.

"We have had something like 3,000 people through over the past two days - that’s the highest numbers so far and that means we will see higher numbers."

The COVID-19 pandemic is continuing to wreak havoc on teams’ preparations for the Games with the United States, Switzerland, the Russian Olympic Committee, Norway and Slovenia among those to report positive cases before flying to Beijing.

The Canadian Olympic Committee has also confirmed that five members of its 246-strong delegation had returned positive results after landing in China.

Canada has experienced a wave of infections due to the higher transmissibility of the Omicron variant which continues to rapidly spread across the world.

"We expect the prevalence of COVID within athletes like those from Canada to be equivalent to the Canadian population at present which is quite high," said McCloskey.

"That is why the screening and closed loop system is so important.

"To balance that we have put the protocols in place that help to allow people who have tested positive to come through the system and would allow them to train and compete where it is safe to do so.

"Positive cases are inevitable with the number of people that were travelling here from countries where COVID is so prevalent.

"The challenge has always been is not have no case but limit the risk of transmission within the closed loop."

The "closed loop management system" has been implemented by Beijing 2022 to separate participants from the general public.

McCloskey insisted the system - which sees all Games personnel undergo daily COVID-19 testing - was "efficient" but conceded his team would be willing to adjust the rules.

"When it comes to COVID, I make it a rule to never be happy," said McCloskey.

"COVID is unpredictable and therefore we always have to be ready to review plans, change plans and monitor it very close.

"But we are confident that the system we have in place is the right one."

Xiong’an - an area situated 100 kilometres southwest of Beijing - has recently gone into lockdown after COVID-19 cases were identified.

However, Huang Chun, deputy director of the pandemic control and prevention office at Beijing 2022, does not believe the situation is a cause for concern.

"It is also true that recently in some cities in China we have some clustered cases including Omicron variant," said Huang.

"If we look at the figures there are some regional clustered cases but as far as I know the clustered cases in Beijing is mainly due to the Delta variant.

"But the Beijing Municipal Government is taking immediate action and we can see the confirmed cases is now decreasing day by day and I believe that this outbreak will be controlled within days.

"We need to strictly follow the closed loop management and have very frequent screening.

"I believe in this way we can identify positive cases, cut the transmission and stop the spread."