Global affairs analyst Michael Bociurkiw has spent the majority of his journalistic career in Asia. In a December 31 op-ed for CNN, the author and podcast host explained how China’s ambitious — some might call it unfeasible — “zero-Covid” policy is not compatible with hosting an event in which people from all over the globe participate. He called the idea that it could be done “naive,” citing the aforementioned events, as well as others outside of China that could spell trouble for the games.
He said that the National Hockey League’s decision to bail out of the Olympics altogether was an “indication of how uncertain the situation has become for Olympic organizers.” The league, which postponed its season as Covid numbers began to rise in its ranks (per ESPN), did not want to risk losing more time in the event that players were forced to quarantine in China.
In pursuit of its lofty goal of being 100 percent Covid-free, China has gone so far as to lock down cities of hundreds of thousands of people in response to a single case. Beyond the Olympic Games, some analysts have even doubted the country’s ability to remain economically stable amid such severe measures. So the prospect of pulling off an event as highly patronized as the Olympics is looking more and more bleak the closer we get to February.
