No public tickets will be sold to next month’s Beijing Olympics due to COVID-19, the Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee said.
Instead, groups of spectators will be invited to the games, and “the organizers expect that these spectators will strictly abide by the COVID-19 countermeasures before, during and after each event,” the Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee said.
The organizing committee said this change is due to the “grave and complicated situation of the COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure the safety of all participants and spectators.”
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The Opening ceremony is set for Friday, Feb. 4.
China is tightening travel restrictions for its capital ahead of the Olympics, requiring all travelers to Beijing to take a nucleic acid test within 72 hours of entry.
The testing rule, which will begin on Jan. 22, was announced after Beijing recorded its first omicron case this weekend in a suburb near many Olympic venues. Health authorities have sealed off the patient’s residential compound and workplace.
ABC News’ Morgan Winsor contributed to this report.
Source: www.msn.com