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- Welcome to the shortest month of the year
and its very first edition of our show.
It's great to have you watching from around the world.
My name is Carl Azuz, and we're starting in the Chinese capital
City of Beijing.
In three days, the 2022 Winter Olympic Games begin.
Like last Summers events in Tokyo, Japan,
there are a lot of unique restrictions
in place here because of coronavirus concerns.
China has some of the strictest rules on the planet,
and they include the country's closed loop
system for the Olympics.
This aims to keep people involved in the games
separate from the Chinese public in the hope of preventing
the spread of COVID.
Unless their country's Olympic Committee requires them
to be vaccinated, athletes don't have
to be inoculated to compete.
But those who aren't needed to arrive in Beijing weeks
ago because the International Olympic Committee
has a mandatory 21-day quarantine
requirement before they're able to move around.
And everyone, regardless of vaccination status,
has to be tested daily.
Will this keep COVID out of the Olympics?
No.
Organizers say their goal is zero
spread, not zero cases, as they do expect
people will test positive.
Has anyone involved in these games tested positive yet?
Yes, dozens of people.
Some before they left their home countries.
Others, after they arrived in Beijing.
For some of the athletes with COVID,
it means their Olympic dream is over, at least,
for the next four years, regardless of whether they
have mild or no symptoms.
But others are hoping they'll recover and test
negative in advance of their events,
in which case, they will likely be allowed to compete.
This is a big effort because roughly 3,000 athletes are
expected to participate in these games in addition
to the coaches, support staff, and members of the media
who go there.
SELINA WANG: My team and I are traveling to Beijing
for the Winter Olympic Games, held
under some of the strictest COVID countermeasures
in the world.
Our journey starts weeks before.
I'm here in Tokyo.
It's 14 days before the games, but I've already
got to download this Olympic health app,
start tracking my health in here every day,
and upload my vaccine certificate.
I'm getting some deja vu using this app
since we had to use a similar one for the Tokyo games.
But this time, I'm using a burner
phone because of cybersecurity concerns in China.
For the next two weeks, I'm limiting
physical interactions with others as much as possible.
96 hours before departure, here we go in for my first test.
Back home, I upload my information
to get this green QR code.
Here we go.
We're taking off.
Just landed in Beijing.
It's totally surreal.
I haven't been back here since I moved about a year and a half
ago.
First thing I saw, walking off the airplane,
is a sea of hazmat suits.
Feels a bit more like going into a medical facility
than the Olympic buzz you'd expect
getting off the airplane.
That was extremely painful.
I just had a nose and a throat PCR test.
I was tearing up a bit.
I clear customs, immigration, and get my Olympic badge
without seeing a single face.
- There you are.
SELINA WANG: I'm officially in what organizers are calling
the closed loop, multiple bubbles connected
by dedicated transport.
The goal-- to keep Olympic participants
separate from the rest of China.
Finally on my way to the hotel on this special bus
that's just for transporting Olympic participants.
Arrived at the hotel.
They've got this giant wall all around the hotel,
so you can't just walk in and out easily.
The local staff here are also part of this bubble.
They'll have to quarantine for 21 days
before leaving the bubble and returning to their homes
in China.
Beijing isn't taking any chances.
Entire communities in China have gone into lockdown
over even just one COVID case.
I've been waiting six hours.
Just got the call.
My results came back negative.
I am so relieved, but it's not over yet.
I'll be tested daily and will be mostly
confined to this room and Olympic venues
during my entire stay here.
Selina Wang, CNN, Beijing.
CARL AZUZ: As the world enters the month of February 2022,
China and several other Asian countries
are entering Lunar New Year, also known as Spring
Festival or Chinese New Year.
This is considered to be the most
important holiday in the world's most populated country.
It traditionally triggers the largest annual human migration
on Earth when hundreds of millions of people
travel home to be with their families.
Of course, concerns and restrictions related to COVID
have put a damper on that.
Public events have been limited or cancelled in some Asian
cities, but families are still gathering to celebrate the year
4720 on the Chinese calendar.
It's symbolized by the tiger, specifically
the water tiger this year.
Lunar New year celebrations can last for up to 15 days.
10-second trivia.
Which of these animals is most closely related to a wombat?
Koala, guinea pig, opossum, or prairie dog?
They're both native to Australia.
They're both marsupials, and wombats
and koalas are closely related.
Wombats, at least the common bear-nosed kind,
are not considered endangered, but koalas
might be headed that way.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature
lists Australia's koalas as vulnerable.
Meaning, they're not officially endangered or extinct,
but that there's a high risk of them going extinct in the wild.
Conservationists believe koalas numbers are decreasing
in Australia by as much as 30% over the past four years,
according to the Australian Koala Foundation.
The nation's government has set aside tens of millions
of dollars for restoring koala habitats,
increasing awareness about the animals,
and funding more studies about them.
But what's threatening koalas in the first place?
MICHAEL HOLMES: They're cute, cuddly,
and could one day be extinct.
But the koala, one of Australia's iconic animals,
may have just been thrown a lifeline
by the Australian government.
The Prime Minister Scott Morrison pledging $35 million
in the next four years to protect
the species after the number of koalas
plummeted in the last few years.
SCOTT MORRISON: We're investing in the world leading science
in looking after our koala populations.
We are also investing heavily in education to ensure not only
the public can understand how they can care,
but also, importantly, veterinarians
right across the country.
MICHAEL HOLMES: One of the biggest threats to koalas--
bushfires.
In 2019 and 2020, the World Wildlife Fund
estimates more than 60,000 koalas
were impacted in one of the country's worst fire seasons.
That's a dramatic loss since estimates
of their total numbers range from nearly half a million
to fewer than 100,000 in the wild.
Disease is also taking a toll on the species.
Wildlife conservationist Robert Irwin says the funds are coming
at a critical time for koalas.
ROBERT IRWIN: They are on the thin edge of the wedge.
And so, any kind of support that we can get
is greatly, greatly appreciated and very, very needed.
Our environment is suffering at the moment.
And so, any steps that we can make toward a brighter future
to make positive change.
MICHAEL HOLMES: Some conservationists
say money isn't enough.
Some environmental groups say the government needs
to pass stronger laws about deforestation and climate
change to protect koalas' habitats from being
bulldozed, logged, or burned.
The Australian Koala Foundation says their conservation
status should be upgraded from vulnerable
to critically-endangered.
Many agree the money for now is helpful.
But without addressing the larger issues,
Australia could, one day, lose what many people
say is a national treasure.
Michael Holmes, CNN.
CARL AZUZ: You don't necessarily need to organize a charity
to help out a community.
Sometimes, you just need to get to work.
That's what 14-year-old Cohen Stahl
has been doing this winter--
shoveling his neighbor's driveways
and clearing the snow around mailboxes and fire hydrants.
He had a quad ATV with a plow on it
that he used for big sections and a shovel for smaller ones.
But while he was doing this one day,
his ATV caught fire and was destroyed.
So the owner of a local store, who'd
seen Cohen's good work online, started a GoFundMe
to help him buy a new ATV.
It raised the first $5,000 in less than 24 hours.
And when we put this show together,
it had raised more than 10,000.
Could that help him out?
Four wheel.
He could keep Cohen plowing forward
without needing to Stahl.
His GoFundMe has gotten a quad of donations.
It just goes to snow you how much people ATV-lieve in him.
Congrats, Cohen.
We've got Hinckley-Finlayson High School watching
today from Hinckley, Minnesota.
Thank you for your comment and request on our YouTube channel.
I'm Carl Azuz.
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