Spectators to China’s Olympics Face Quarantines, Shot Mandates
Spectators to China’s Olympics Face Quarantines, Shot Mandates
(Bloomberg) -- China will require the small number of spectators allowed at next month’s Beijing Winter Olympics to be boostered against Covid-19 and to limit their movements before and after events, with the Games shut out to most of the general public.
Organizers said late Monday there will be no general ticket sales, a first for any modern Olympics. Spectating will be restricted to a limited group that includes people linked to Olympic sponsors, staff from Chinese state-owned enterprises and local students, according to people familiar with the matter.
Those who decide to attend events from figure skating to alpine skiing will be subject to a raft of requirements, including a curb on leaving Beijing in the 14 days prior to the opening ceremony, said the people.
A representative for the Beijing Olympic Committee said in an email that organizers expect spectators to abide by Covid-19 countermeasures during and after each event, without elaborating.
The virus is overshadowing the lead-up to the Winter Games, due to be held in Beijing and the surrounding province of Hebei from Feb. 4-20. While other parts of the world shift to living with the virus, China is persisting with its zero-tolerance approach and clamping down hard to extinguish outbreaks, even though cases are much lower than in places like the U.S. and Europe. Despite intense border curbs and mandatory quarantines, the highly-infectious omicron has been detected in the Chinese capital, while the nearby port city of Tianjin has become an epicenter for the variant.
“Tickets should not be sold anymore but be part of an adapted program that will invite groups of spectators,” the Olympics organizing committee said in its Monday statement. It described the virus situation as “grave and complicated.”
In principle, spectators from outside of Beijing and the neighboring Hebei province won’t be allowed to attend the Games, one of the people said, citing a memo distributed by their employer. To attend Olympic events, people will need to be fully vaccinated plus have received a booster by Jan. 20, and they’ll be subject to restrictions on their movements after spectating at the Games, the person said.
‘Safe Games’
China had already banned overseas spectators from what would normally be a major draw for visitors and tourism. It’s a stark contrast to the Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008, which were seen as a huge international coming-of-age party for the country.
President Xi Jinping tried to offer some reassurance on Monday, saying in an address to the World Economic Forum that “China has confidence to deliver a concise, safe, and brilliant Olympic Games to the world.”
Organizers had already set out some safety measures for the Games, as well as the Paralympics in March, which include keeping athletes and journalists within a so-called closed loop system to isolate them from the general population during the event.
China hasn’t seen a Covid death since last January and nearly 90% of the population has been vaccinated with homegrown shots, but Xi’s administration has staked its credibility on keeping the virus out and limiting the pandemic chaos that has hit other countries. There are also concerns about the efficacy of local vaccines, which rely on more traditional inactivated virus technology than the messenger RNA shots used in the West.
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With assistance from Bloomberg