BEIJING — The sprawling Olympic Green is lined with brightly lit trees, an enormous glowing statue of the Winter Games mascot, an ice suit-wearing panda named Bing Dwen Dwen, and synchronized light shows speed along the sides of the 846-foot Olympic Tower.
But the festive scene each night near several high-profile venues belies the pandemic-fueled uncertainty that permeates these Games.
Everyone is tested daily for the coronavirus inside the Olympic bubble that's separated from the rest of society by high fences, security guards and surveillance cameras. Some staffers wear white hazmat suits. Temperatures are automatically scanned when entering buildings. News of the latest athlete to test positive and be whisked to an isolation facility trickles out through social media posts or brief written statements.
