3:20 PM
The Winter Games will go ahead as planned, despite Switzerland's team leader asking for talks about possibly postponing the Beijing Olympics because of the coronaviruses.
The Swiss Olympic committee said the IOC gave assurances about the staging of the event.
The Swiss team said that the IOC promised case-by-case assessments of athletes who recover after testing positive for COVID-19.
The issue of a postponement is no longer relevant to the Swiss team, according to the statement.
The IOC is hoping to avoid a second delay. The Tokyo Games were supposed to be held in 2020. The opening ceremony was four months away.
In a Swiss television interview, Stckli raised concerns about the Beijing Olympics, due to the rising number of athletes being exposed to COVID-19.
Stckli told the French-language state broadcaster that there was a possibility of a postponement. "If we don't have the best athletes there, that's going to be very difficult."
The Swiss Olympic team is happy to have some certainty after listening to the IOC.
There was a Swiss concern about waiting times before an athlete could enter China after recovering from a COVID-19 infection. The Swiss team said that the IOC and Chinese organizers announced that a panel of international experts will evaluate individual cases and handle the issue in a more flexible manner.
Stckli said that if the current case rates were high, many athletes would not have been able to participate in the Olympics.
The team noted that the opening ceremony is only 30 days away and that it will be very demanding.
Stckli acknowledged that there will probably be disappointment for athletes who are unable to compete.
Beijing organizers and the IOC are creating a health safety bubble for the Olympics with stricter testing and limits on travel and movement than were enforced at last year's Tokyo Games.
The rules include a 21-day quark for athletes, officials and workers who are not fully vaccine free, and daily testing for people who are.
International fans are being kept away, though tickets to attend events in stadiums will be sold to people living in China.
