An aerial view of the cycling velodrome for the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou ©OCA

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has said it is delighted to see that construction work on venues for the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou has resumed.

Work was halted for several weeks in the Chinese city, capital of the province of Zhejiang, due to the coronavirus outbreak.

But the official website of the Hangzhou 2022 Organising Committee (HAGOC) reports that venues within the city and in other areas, notably the cycling velodrome in Chun’an County, are busy again with construction work.

"This is very good news coming out of China and it highlights the effectiveness of the measures to contain and prevent the coronavirus in the city of Hangzhou and the province of Zhejiang," said OCA director general Husain Al-Musallam said.

"We sincerely hope that life is steadily returning to normal for the people and that they can go about their everyday work like before.

"We have full confidence and trust in the Chinese Olympic Committee (COC) and the Hangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee that they are making the safety of the people their top priority.

"The OCA supports the decisions of the COC and HAGOC, and will continue to work closely with them in the coming weeks and months."

Hangzhou will be hosting the 19th edition of the Asian Games in 2022 ©Getty Images
Hangzhou will be hosting the 19th edition of the Asian Games in 2022 ©Getty Images

The 2022 Asian Games will be the third edition of the event to be held in China, following Beijing 1990 and Guangzhou 2010, and are due to take place from September 10 to 25.

HAGOC reports that the decision to resume construction work on the cycling velodrome was taken on February 14 and that workers must undergo temperature and health checks on a daily basis before entering the site.

Construction officials are confident that the velodrome will be completed on schedule by the end of 2021.

The entire project at Chun’an County covers 32,500 square metres and includes the velodrome, five other venues and villages for athletes, media and technical officials.

On February 27, the Organising Committee said that construction had resumed on 28 of the 40 projects being built for Hangzhou 2022.

Coronavirus deaths outside China surpassed those inside for the first time today.

The centre of the pandemic has shifted to Europe and the United States and forced more countries to limit travel and gatherings to contain the spread.