A total of 55 new COVID-19 infections were found among Olympic Games-related personnel on Feb. 2, the chair of the Beijing 2022 medical expert panel said on Thursday, the highest daily tally so far.
Brian McCloskey, an expert on global health security and outbreak prevention said: 'Clearly, having a vaccine would be extremely helpful, not just for the Olympics, but for all of us. But even without a vaccine I think there are other mitigation measures we will look at to make sure we can run the Games safely.'
McCloskey, who chairs an independent panel of experts advising organisers on COVID-19 mitigation measures, said there was no way of being 100% sure that no athlete would be infected but measures in place were reducing that risk considerably.
The situation inside the "bubble" stood in sharp contrast to outside, with a surge in infections fuelled by the Delta variant hitting daily records and for the first time crossing 5,000 in the host city, threatening to overwhelm Tokyo's hospitals.