Only “selected” spectators will be allowed at competition venues at the Beijing Olympics next month due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Beijing had previously announced that no spectators from outside the country would be allowed to attend the events and had not offered tickets to the general public.
Monday’s announcement, posted on the organizing committee’s website, confirmed expectations that the Winter Games would have few spectators at the venues, under even stricter conditions than those imposed at the Summer Olympics. of last year in Tokyo.
China has largely avoided major COVID-19 outbreaks with lockdowns, mass testing and travel restrictions, though it continues to struggle with outbreaks in several cities, including the port of Tianjin, about an hour from Beijing.
The capital itself confirmed at the weekend that a 26-year-old woman had contracted the Omicron variant and screened more than 13,000 people for cases of cross-transmission.
In its statement, the organizing committee said that its measures were aimed at “creating a pleasant environment for the holding of the Games”.
“Given the difficult and complicated work of controlling the epidemic and protecting the health and safety of those involved in the Games, the original plan to offer tickets to the general public has been modified to be limited to spectators. of selected groups,” the statement read.
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