AusLeisure

Further spectator restrictions for Winter Olympics amid omicron detection in Beijing

China has announced that tickets to the Winter Olympics will no longer be sold to the general public, as Beijing recorded its first case of the highly transmissible omicron variant.

The organisers of the Beijing Winter Olympics have announced that only "selected" spectators will be permitted at next month's event because of the pandemic.

Beijing had already limited tickets to the Games to domestic spectators however Beijing’s Winter Olympics Organizing Committee announced yesterday this would be further restricted with only certain approved groups allowed as spectators, after undergoing strict measures to prevent transmission of the virus.

The announcement posted on the organising committee's website on Monday 17^th January confirmed expectations that the Winter Games would have few onlookers at the venues, under even more strict conditions than imposed during last year's Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

In its statement, the organising committee said its measures were intended to "create a pleasant environment for the holding of the Games."

"Given the difficult and complicated work of controlling the epidemic, and to protect the health and safety of those involved with the Games, the original plan of offering tickets to the general public has been altered toward spectators from selected groups," the statement said.

The single case of omicron registered on Saturday in Beijing sparked mass testing of 13,000 residents who might have crossed paths with the patient, who authorities said visited several restaurants and malls before testing positive. It also led Beijing to bar entry to anyone who has visited any Chinese city that recorded even a single case of the coronavirus in the past 14 days.

In recent weeks, China has gone to extraordinary lengths to prevent the spread of omicron – at times locking down entire cities. Authorities are concerned that much of the country may lack immunity  with China’s vaccines reported to be less effective against omicron and with most of the population still waiting for a booster shot.

Image: Chinese President Xi Jinping inspects preparations for the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Credit: Xinhua.

Related Articles

8th January 2022 - Universal Beijing Resort looks to second phase expansion with five new hotels

7th January 2022 - Beijing Games Organisers pledge to deliver sustainable Winter Olympics

5th January 2022 - Beijing Winter Olympics staff enter ‘bubble’ at Games venues

4th January 2022 - Beijing Winter Olympic villages set to welcome athletes

8th December 2021 - Australian Government joins diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics

12th November 2021 - Beijing ice sports venue to operate at one-fifth capacity during Winter Olympics

10th November 2021 - Beijing Winter Olympic Games venue introduces working robots to reduce COVID-19 contact risk

25th October 2021 - New Chinese COVID outbreaks sees postponement of Beijing and Wuhan marathons

9th October 2021 - Officials acknowledge COVID challenges facing Beijing Winter Olympics

30th September 2021 - China to restrict Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics tickets to residents

3rd September 2021 - Universal Beijing Resort set for official opening on 20th September

8th February 2021 - IOC President says Beijing 2022 will ‘transform winter sports’

28th January 2021 - Chinese officials confident of completing preparations for a successful Beijing Winter Olympics

13th June 2020 - IOC Coordination Commission praises progress on Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics

---

Support our industry news service
We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?

As an independent publisher, we need reader support for our industry news gathering so ask that - if you don't already do so - you back us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine and/or our online news.