The World Health Organization (WHO) has hailed the preparatory work of the Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee to ensure the safety and well-being of athletes and essential workers amid rising concern over the spread of the coronavirus variant Omicron. 

Earlier this week, the U.S. set a global record of over 1 million new COVID-19 infections on a single day, while Italy, France and several other countries reported record daily new cases. But the WHO remains optimistic ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics, which run from February 4 to 20, and the Winter Paralympics, March 4-13. 

"We will continue to monitor the situation," WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan told a news conference on Thursday. "The Chinese authorities have very strict measures in place, and they've released a series of different playbooks." 

The second edition of the playbooks was released in December, with updates including details of the implementation of a special closed-loop management system, which allows fully vaccinated Olympic-related personnel to enter China without undergoing a compulsory 21-day quarantine.

The new information covers the vaccination, customs entry requirements and Games-time health monitoring and isolation to help athletes, team officials and all other participants finalize their plans for their travel to and from China. 

"We continue to review those playbooks with the International Olympic Committee (IOC)," Ryan said, noting the UN health agency had worked with the IOC to provide technical advice on the safe hosting of the Games. 

"I'm confident that given the information we have, that the measures that are in place for the Games are very strict and very strong, and we don't, at this point, see any increased risk of disease transmission in that context."

Ryan also expressed confidence that China is ready to stage safe and secure Winter Olympics. "Certainly at this stage, given the arrangements that have been put in place for the athletes by the organizers, we don't perceive that there's any particular extra risk in hosting or running the Games," he observed. 

The sentiment was echoed by IOC Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi, who revealed the closed-loop system had "worked smoothly" for the first participants to arrive at the Games. "The venues are ready. They look fantastic. They have now received the look of the Games and frankly it's impeccable," he added.

Meanwhile, IOC president Thomas Bach has preached the importance of the playbooks and urged all Games participants to be extra vigilant. 

"Beijing starts now for all of us. We must do everything to ensure that the Olympic dreams of athletes are not taken away just days before departure," said Bach in a statement. "The playbooks are not just a rule book – they should now be a way of life."