Beijing Winter Olympics 2022: Switzerland Cancel Ice Hockey Warm-Up Game With Canada Due to COVID-19 Positive Case
Canada will open their campaign against Germany on February 10 while Switzerland will face the Russian Olympic Committee in their first match on February 9 in the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Beijing, February 1: An exhibition game between Canada's Olympic men's ice hockey team and Switzerland was cancelled on Tuesday after Swiss Christian Marti tested positive for Covid-19, the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation said.
"A case of Covid-19 was detected on the Swiss team and in order to avoid any additional risk for both teams, the friendly against Canada scheduled for tonight must be cancelled," said the Swiss federation in a statement.
Canada will open their campaign against Germany on February 10 while Switzerland will face the Russian Olympic Committee in their first match on February 9 in the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Earlier, Huang Chun, deputy director-general, China's Olympics Pandemic Prevention and Control Office said that the Covid-19 situation at the Beijing Winter Olympics is within the 'controllable range'. Beijing Winter Olympics 2022: 37 More COVID-19 Positive Cases Reported Ahead of Winter Olympics.
"As more people are entering China the imported Covid-19 cases are increasing, but it is within the controllable range," Huang said in a news briefing on Tuesday.
"The Covid-19 situation is generally within our expected controllable range. So the Games participants, including athletes, and the Chinese public do not have to worry," he added.
However, Huang said rising cases were also a result of more effective and accurate Covid-19 detection techniques by customs. He said Olympics organisers were not considering any major changes to Covid-19 control policies at the Games.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 02, 2022 09:54 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).