The Beijing Winter Olympics reported 36 new cases of COVID-19 among people related to the games, with less than a week until the event.

The organizing committee said that 36 people tested positive for the virus among games-related people who arrived in China for the Olympics on Friday and those in the "closed loop" bubble that separates event personnel from the public.

Nineteen of them are reportedly either athletes or team officials, while 17 others are Olympic Games-related personnel.

According to the Games’ official website, 29 of them were found among new airport arrivals, while seven were among those already in the “closed loop.”

The latest cases raised the cumulative number of confirmed coronavirus infections among the national teams participating in the Games to 23 as of Friday, with the figure for Olympic Games-related personnel rising to 154.

The committee is not disclosing if the confirmed cases are athletes or officials.

The organizing committee is reportedly applying a "closed loop system" for international arrivals for the Olympics to limit the spread of infection. The system is aimed at sealing the entire Games inside a bubble completely cut off from the rest of the city.