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If they are negative, then athletes, coaches,
media and other staff will remain in a pseudo
bubble for their entire stay. They may only use
dedicated transportation and dine in designated
restaurants. Everyone will be tested daily and ex-
pected to isolate immediately if they test posi-
tive; no one can leave isolation until they test
negative twice with 24 hours in between. These
measures aren’t foolproof, however. It’s not clear,
for instance, whether local volunteers and sup-
port staff for the Olympics—bus drivers, foodOmicrOn’s stunning ability to spread so quickly and ef-
ficiently will pose obstacles to China that no other Olympics
host country has faced. With such a high level of transmis-
sion, even rigorous testing could miss cases that spark out-
breaks. “Omicron is the ultimate challenge to any program
based on zero cases,” says Michael Osterholm, director of the
CHINATOPIX /A P center for infectious-disease research and policy at the Uni-