By Tomoyuki Tachikawa,
Just one week before the Winter Olympics, there are few signs that people in Beijing will become enthusiastic about the global sporting event with the Communist-led government toughening its already intense COVID-19 constraints.
As community infections with the novel coronavirus began to expand in Beijing since January, many citizens there have spent their lives feeling nervous about when they might be abruptly ordered by health authorities to be quarantined at home as "close contacts."
Under China's radical "zero corona" policy, quarantined people are completely banned from stepping out of their room, thus now making ordinary citizens more reluctant to visit crowded places such as shopping malls and parks as well as even hospitals and clinics.
Numerous parents, including Japanese ones, have been worried about whether their children can receive appropriate health treatment in Beijing if they suffer an illness other than COVID-19 due to stress under movement restrictions.
In the run-up to the Feb. 4 opening of the Olympics, "We cannot go to the hospital and buy medicine. If something happens to our children, what can we do?" said Liu Jiali, a 33-year-old Chinese woman in Beijing.
Recently, the municipal government has urged those who want to buy cough or fever medicine at a pharmacy to have a negative certificate of a PCR test taken within 72 hours.
Should they buy medicine without a negative certificate, their "health code" on a smartphone would turn invalid, meaning they would be prohibited from boarding trains and entering office buildings, restaurants, supermarkets and other public spaces.
"In the worst-case scenario, will we suddenly be instructed to be home-quarantined only because we buy medicine? This goes too far. I can hardly celebrate and enjoy the Olympics under the current circumstances," Liu said.
The Beijing Olympics will be held ahead of the ruling Communist Party's twice-a-decade congress in fall, at which Chinese President Xi Jinping is widely expected to secure a controversial third term as leader.
As Xi appears to be keen to make the Olympics a success to bolster his clout before the congress, his leadership has been trying to set the mood for the event while implementing whatever measures it can to stem the virus, first detected in China's Wuhan in late 2019.
But 2022 Beijing Olympic stores have not been packed amid anxiety about the virus spread. In the center of the capital, those who are lining up at PCR testing sites look more prominent than posters and flags commemorating the games.
Especially after the organizers announced on Jan. 17 that tickets for the Olympics will not be sold to the general public, people in Beijing seem to have lost their fascination for the sporting event, some locals say.
For many citizens living in the capital with a population of 20 million, their primary concern is how their life will go during the Olympics through Feb. 20.
On Jan. 15, Beijing's municipal authorities said the city's first case of the highly contagious Omicron variant was found, weeks after community infections with it were identified in Tianjin, a city of 14 million that is known as a key gateway to the capital.
Since then, more than 2 million people in Beijing have been compelled to take a PCR test, while all residents there have been strictly required to present their "health code," which can confirm whether they have a high risk of infection, almost everywhere.
If health code apps indicate users visited the same place as the infected person had in the recent past, they might be forced by health authorities to be quarantined at home for up to two weeks, even though they test negative for COVID-19.
"All the information about where I went is recorded, but I don't know where infected people have visited or will stop by. I cannot go anywhere for fear I may be quarantined," said a 39-year-old male worker in Beijing.
In a bid to prevent further infections with the virus, many schools in Beijing will close on the occasion of the Olympics, extending the period of winter break including the weeklong Lunar New Year holidays through Feb. 6.
"My 7-year-old son should stay home for over three weeks and he might be unable to play with his friends outdoors. I have to be careful for him not to get ill under stress," said Yoko Kobayashi, a 35-year-old Japanese housewife in Beijing.
"I would also get stressed because I have to keep staying with him and we cannot easily go to the hospital. Will the Chinese government take responsibility if we have any problem?" Kobayashi added.
During the Olympics, meanwhile, security is likely to be tight and traffic is certain to be severely regulated, while activities will be restricted as the environment ministry is eager to curb air pollution in Beijing.
Moreover, citizens in Beijing, which is set to become the first city to hold both the Summer and Winter Olympics, have been asked not to move out of the capital unless necessary.
There is also talk that the central government may launch rockets in an attempt to spur snowfall by bombarding clouds, believing it would help create a good atmosphere in Beijing for the Winter Games.
China is reported to have taken the same steps to modify the weather before major events such as the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party in 2021.
"We are not allowed to make a trip and if snow piles up, we can't go to tourist sites in Beijing. We've got frustrated. We are victims of the Olympics," said Satoshi Yamamoto, a 45-year-old Japanese employee in the capital.
"I strongly hope the Olympics will end and China's 'zero corona' policy will be lifted as soon as possible," he added.
