Walking into the Shangri-La Hotel in Beijing’s Olympic bubble, it’s immediately clear that Covid-19 prevention measures are being taken to the next level – even in the context of one of the strictest places in the world.
Guests are sprayed from head-to-toe with a mist of disinfectant in a neon-lit walkway upon entering the building, and guests walk through a roped-off alley surrounded by half a dozen staff wearing full hazmat suits.
Temperatures are also checked, N95 or KN95 face masks are mandatory, and hand sanitizer is dispensed from hands-free containers – as with all locations within the “closed loop.”
Airport-level security is also employed at building entrances, with the Olympic accreditation identification scanned through the security gates, so people can be traced at all times.
Preventing Covid-19 from spreading within the “closed loop” – or more importantly, escaping into the rest of the population – has been a key priority for Olympic organizers.
Even the restaurant at the Shangri-La takes an extreme approach to safety. The famous northern Chinese dish of Peking duck was hand-rolled by a member of staff wearing a hazmat suit, who spread out the wafer-thin pancakes, adding the plum sauce, juicy duck and spring onions, all while wearing surgical gloves.
The Olympic personnel, media and other guests staying at the dozens of hotels inside the “closed loop” are tested for Covid-19 every day, a mandatory process which has to take place before 11pm (local time.) If anyone tests positive within the “closed loop,” staff will come to remove them from the hotel and transfer them to an isolation facility or a hospital until they test negative twice.
The Covid-19 testing staff at CNN’s hotel are stationed outside in temporary metal shelters, unable to leave their station for hours on end, relying on layers of clothes under their hazmat suits to protect them from the sub-zero temperatures. Guests at some hotels have received warnings for forgetting to take their Covid-19 tests on time and have been warned that they will be banned from leaving the hotel until they do their test.
So far, the strict containment measures have prevented an outbreak of Covid-19 within the “closed loop,” with only five cases reported on Tuesday.
