Safety first approach is big Winter Olympics winner

In addition to Tokyo's strategy, which included an emphasis on mask-wearing and rapid detection of new cases, Zhang said China introduced more measures, such as promoting vaccination, establishing COVID-19 liaison officers and putting all Winter Olympics participants in a closed-loop management system.

"With the closed-loop system in place, we could see that the number of infections (inside the loop) was falling and that we had managed to stop the virus spreading at Olympic venues as much as possible," he said.

One of the biggest concerns for frontline anti-pandemic workers was whether these measures could be put into practice.

Yin Jinshu, vice-president of Beijing Shijitan Hospital and deputy general manager of medical service and pandemic prevention at the Wukesong Sports Center, said, "Sports stadiums have many elevators and exits to disperse crowds quickly." Such a layout prompted experts to draw up detailed plans on where to erect physical barriers and to control the flow of people to prevent cross-infection and keep the loop intact.

Two test events to assess whether the anti-pandemic strategies would work were carried out last year, Yin said.

"We all needed some time and practice to familiarize ourselves with the rules and regulations," she added.