Spectators watch during the Men’s Short Singles Skating Show on day four of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games on February 8, 2022.
David Ramos / Getty Images
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David Ramos / Getty Images
Spectators watch during the Men’s Short Singles Skating Show on day four of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games on February 8, 2022.
David Ramos / Getty Images
BEIJING – Olympic organizers opened their closed Winter Olympics just enough to allow specially selected local Chinese to come see some events. Now that Games officials believe COVID-19 is properly contained within the bubble, they may add more.
“In the next step, we will bring in more audiences based on demand, as the current COVID-19 situation in a ‘closed loop’ is under control,” said Huang Chun, director of the prevention and control office. Pandemic control by Beijing organizers.
The commission reported no COVID-19 cases among airport arrivals and six new positives from people in closed circles on Monday – the lowest number in two weeks.
Mainland Chinese groups have gathered at the Olympic venues in Beijing and two neighboring mountain venues, Yanqing and Chongqing. In some cases, dozens of people and more than 100 others, often the cheers of the fans can be heard, echoing through stadiums and virtually empty venues.
Thousands of people were allowed to attend the opening ceremony on February 4 in Beijing.
Organizing Committee canceled all ticket sales to watch the Game live due to the proliferation of highly contagious omicron variation.
Yan Jiarong, a spokesman for the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee, said that ticket collection at the venue is based on a voluntary registration process.
It’s not clear exactly who these audience members are. Pressed by reporters for details on who or what these fans were from and why their particular application was approved, Yan and IOC officials responded. did not directly respond to a press conference.
Yan said the organizers “overcame a lot of difficulties to allow spectators in place.”
Fans must follow a series of coronavirus countermeasures before, during and after they attend. That includes getting tested twice before entering the Olympic bubble and being “under health monitoring” for a week afterward. They are allowed to leave their homes, go to work and attend the Olympics without quarantine.
All this is despite China’s tightly controlled bubble set up for athletes, team staff and media at the Olympics. China banned visitors and workers at the Olympics, who were not allowed to leave the closed ‘bubble’.
Spectators are kept separate from athletes and other staff and must be entered through specially designated doors. They also sit in specific areas of the venue.
Olympics officials believe the system maintains the integrity of the quarantine for other attendees.
Brian McCloskey, chairman of the Beijing 2022 panel of medical experts, said the setup “creates minimal risk while creating the best possible environment.”
