Page 16 - aruba-today-20220114

A16 sports
Friday 14 January 2022
China faces omicron test weeks ahead of Beijing Olympics

By HUIZHONG WU to present negative virus sands of people from
Associated Press tests and receive special abroad for the Olympics,
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Most permission. which start Feb. 4.
access to a major city ad- Elsewhere, more than 20 "I think it truly is a critical
jacent to Beijing was sus- million people under lock- juncture for China. Can it
pended Thursday as China down in China, including stave off omicron?" said
tried to contain an out- in the western city of Xi'an. Dali Yang, a Chinese poli-
break of the highly con- Some are barred from leav- tics expert at the University
tagious omicron variant, ing their homes. of Chicago.
which poses a test to its That's all part of the sweep- China reported 124 domes-
"zero-tolerance" COVID-19 ing restrictions on move- tically transmitted cases on
policy and its ability to suc- ment China has repeatedly Thursday, including 76 in
cessfully host the Winter imposed since early 2020. Henan province and 41 in
Olympics. It started with the then-un- Tianjin.
Tianjin, a port and manu- precedented step of seal- Authorities have reported a
facturing center with 14 ing off 11 million people total of 104,379 cases since Associated Press
million people, is one of a in the central city Wuhan, the pandemic began and
half-dozen cities where the where the virus was first 4,636 deaths, a figure that Anyone who leaves the lation is protected only by
government is imposing detected, and other parts hasn't changed in months. sealed environment will be vaccines and not by anti-
lockdowns and other re- of surrounding Hubei prov- During the Tokyo Olympics required to quarantine for bodies produced by pre-
strictions as part of a policy ince. in July, Japan saw a wide- three weeks. vious infections, said Dr.
that aims to track down ev- Along with mass testing spread outbreak driven by Police even went so far as Vineeta Bal, an Indian im-
ery virus case. But the out- and digital surveillance of the delta variant, but the to warn anyone involved in munologist.
break in a city so close to people's movements, those measures at the Olympics a collision with an Olympics The domestically made
the Olympic host is particu- measures have kept the themselves were mostly vehicle to avoid contact vaccines China is using are
larly worrying. virus from spreading into a effective in stopping trans- with people on board and also generally considered
Throughout the pandemic, full-fledged national out- mission, said Kenji Shibuya, wait for a special team to less effective than those
authorities have been es- break so far. The country's research director at the handle the situation. widely used in other coun-
pecially protective of Bei- vaccination rate now also Tokyo Foundation for Poli- Such measures should be tries, such as the Pfizer or
jing since it is the seat of tops 85%. cy Research and a public able to prevent the spread Moderna shots.
government and home to Other countries that tried a health expert. of the virus within the bub- Despite these challenges,
senior politicians. With the similar zero-tolerance ap- The rules in Beijing will be ble, said Kei Saito, a virolo- China has shown no signs
Games opening there in proach have abandoned even stricter than Tokyo's. gist at the University of To- of giving up on its efforts to
just over three weeks and it, deciding instead to try to The Games are being con- kyo. stop the spread of the virus
China's national pride on live with the virus, while miti- ducted under a "closed But outside, it could be a in its tracks.
the line, the stakes are gating its worst effects. loop" system that is meant different story. Tianjin conducted mass
even higher now. China persists, but may find to prevent all contact be- "Omicron is three to four testing for a second time
On Thursday, Tianjin sus- the strategy increasingly tween the outside world times more transmissible Wednesday. The govern-
pended train, taxi, bus and difficult since the omicron and athletes, journalists, than delta," said Saito. "I ment asked people to wait
ride-hailing services to oth- variant is more contagious staff and officials at the think it's almost impossible at home until they receive
er cities. Flights and high- than previous versions of Olympics. to control the spread of a negative result, and com-
speed train services were the virus and is better at Those inside the Games omicron." munities in Beijing asked
canceled earlier and high- evading vaccines. That bubble will travel between Furthermore, the lack of their residents to report if
ways closed. People leav- challenge comes just as hotels and competition widespread outbreaks they've visited the nearby
ing the city were required China is welcoming thou- venues in special vehicles. means the Chinese popu- port city in recent weeks.q

Brighton vs. rival Palace, Dortmund faces Freiburg

place team needs to fol- are hovering around mid- With Amine Gouiri in this
low up with another win at table and look to be well kind of form, Nice can sus-
home against a Freiburg clear of relegation trouble tain a push for a top-two
team that is no pushover this season. The clubs, how- finish and hope to qualify
because it too is fighting ever, are separated by 46 outright for the Champions
for a Champions League miles (74 kilometers), which League next season. Gouiri
place. History is on Dort- doesn't make it a typical will be looking to add to his
mund's side, with Freiburg's local rivalry by English soc- nine goals and five assists
only win at Dortmund's cer standards. Palace is the when second-place Nice
stadium coming in 2001. nearest big club to Brigh- hosts mid-table Nantes. The
Freiburg is fourth as it push- ton, a city on the south only headache for Nice
es to qualify for the Cham- coast, and their rivalry ap- coach Christophe Galtier is
pions League for what pears to only have sprouted who to pair the 21-year-old
would be the first time. since the 1970s as they rose Gouri with up front. He must
ENGLAND together up the leagues. choose between Denmark
Associated Press Near each other in the Palace, which is in 12th striker Kasper Dolberg or off-
standings, if not so close place and below Brighton, season signing Andy Delort,
By The Associated Press un- Borussia Dortmund on the map, Brighton and is without Jordan Ayew and who has made a strong im-
defined breathed some life back Crystal Palace renew their Cheikhou Kouyaté as they pression since joining from
A look at what's happen- into the title race last week rivalry to open the 22nd are at the African Cup of Montpellier and netted
ing in European soccer on by closing the gap to Bay- round of games in the Pre- Nations. Brighton midfielder some useful late goals. He
Friday: ern Munich to six points. mier League. Four points Yves Bissouma is also there. has eight goals so far while
GERMANY Now Marco Rose's second- separate the teams who FRANCE Dolberg has five.q