Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday that Beijing will host a ‘safe and splendid’ Winter Olympics even as COVID-19 cases continue to rise among athletes and staff.

“We will do our best to deliver to the world a streamlined, safe and splendid Games,” he said while speaking at an International Olympic Committee (IOC) a day before the opening ceremony. 

The games are set to begin on Friday, February 3. The President said that ‘China is ready’ to host the games that will live up to the Olympic slogan ‘faster, higher, stronger – together’, according to a report by Al Jazeera.

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The statement comes in the backdrop of growing cases among athletes as well as a diplomatic boycott of the games by various countries.

Chair of the Beijing 2022 medical expert panel, Brian McCloskey informed on Thursday that at least 55 new infections had been found among the staff a day before, including 29 from new airport arrivals and 26 among those in the Olympic bubble. 

Even though this is the highest single-day rise so far, he said, “The numbers are very small. We are confident that the system will work. But we are not relaxed. We keep all measures in place.”

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Several countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, have boycotted the games over concerns about China’s alleged human rights abuses against Muslim minorities, according to reports. 

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IOC president Thomas Bach has repeatedly defended the committee’s choice of Beijing as the host country for the tournament. He said that in the run-up to the games, he had observed ‘the dark clouds of the growing politicisation of sport on the horizon’.

To tackle the spread, China has implemented stringent measures including isolation for every person associated with the Olympics. All members, athletes and personnel are tested every day in the closed-loop bubble.