The organizing committee of the Beijing Winter Olympics announced on Monday that it was canceling its plan to sell tickets to the general public, due to the epidemic situation, while promising to welcome spectators by invitation.
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It was planned so far that people residing in China can buy tickets and attend the Games (February 4-20). Spectators from abroad already had no means of attending the competitions.
“Given that the epidemic situation is still difficult and complicated” in the country, where several cities have been struggling with outbreaks of Covid-19 in recent weeks, the organizing committee has canceled the sale of tickets.
“In order to protect the health and safety of staff and spectators (…), it has been decided to adjust the initial plan (and instead) to organize the arrival of spectators at the (competition) venues “, he said in a press release.
The organizing committee did not specify how these people will be selected or whether they will have to quarantine before going to the stadiums and to the edge of the ski slopes.
According to certain sources, invitations could in particular be given to civil servants or employees of public companies.
China, where the coronavirus was first detected at the end of 2019, has succeeded since the spring of 2020 in almost completely eradicating Covid-19 on its soil.
Life is almost normal thanks to drastic measures: long mandatory quarantines on arrival in the territory, targeted confinements, massive screenings, mobile applications for tracking movements and drastic limitation of international flights.
But China has been facing several outbreaks in recent weeks. Extremely limited, they however mobilize the health authorities, eager to avoid any contagion of magnitude with the Winter Olympics.
Athletes, officials and staff begin arriving in Beijing in preparation for the Games. They immediately enter a health bubble that separates them from the rest of the population.