With China’s Hainan province recording no new Covid-19 cases for over two months, the Sixth Asian Beach Games, scheduled for Sanya City in November, are progressing as planned.
The Games are set to run from November 28 to December 6, with 17 sports and the participation of athletes from 45 Asian nations.
In a statement on the organisation’s website, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) director general Husain Al-Musallam said Sanya City vice mayor Zhou Jun had confirmed that no new cases of Covid-19 infections had been reported since February 12.
According to Zhou, who is also deputy secretary general of the Sixth Asian Beach Games Organising Committee (SABGOC), the city has been free of infections for 62 consecutive days and the last confirmed patient was cured and discharged from hospital on March 8.
“The OCA has been in regular contact with the organising committee and with the Chinese Olympic Committee over the past three months and we have been very impressed with how the authorities have handled the Covid-19 outbreak in Sanya City and Hainan province,” said Al-Musallam.
“We appreciate there is still a long way to go in respect of controlling and preventing the spread of Covid-19 around Asia because the health, safety and well-being of our athletes is the most important factor.
“However, we remain hopeful that our Asian Beach Games can go ahead as planned in seven months’ time. We will continue to monitor the situation with the organising committee, the Chinese Olympic Committee and with all our National Olympic Committees in the five zones of Asia.”
Zhou added: “At present, the SABGOC is speeding up the preparation in an orderly manner, hoping to bring everyone a trendy, green, fantastic and magnificent Asian Beach Games.”
