Beijing reports highest Covid-19 cases since June 2020 as Olympics loom in five days time

Local residents ride bicycles on the Olympic Green near the edge of the closed-loop area at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Sunday, Jan. 30, 2022. - AP

BEIJING, Jan 30 (AFP): Beijing recorded its highest number of new Covid-19 cases for a year and a half on Sunday, as the Chinese capital gears up to host the Winter Olympics in five days.

China will hold the Games in a strict "closed-loop" bubble as part of its zero-Covid strategy of targeted lockdowns, border restrictions and lengthy quarantines.