The organisers of the Beijing Winter Olympics have announced that tickets will be further restricted with only "selected" spectators permitted at next month's event because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Beijing had already announced that no fans from outside the country would be allowed the events, and had not offered tickets to the general public.
The announcement posted on the organising committee's website on Monday 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.
Health officials blame parcel for Omicron infection
China has largely avoided major virus outbreaks with a regimen of lockdowns, mass testing for COVID-19 and travel restrictions, although it continues to fight surges in several cities, including the port of Tianjin, about an hour from Beijing.
The capital itself confirmed over the weekend that a 26-year-old woman had contracted the omicron variant of the virus, and the city has subsequently tested more than 13,000 people in search of cases of cross transmission.
Chinese health officials said the woman may have contracted the Omicron variant after opening a parcel on which traces of the virus were later detected.
Beijing Municipal Centre for Disease Prevention and Control deputy director Pang Xinghuo said positive samples were collected from the parcel the patient received, which was delivered from Canada on January 7 and passed through the US and Hong Kong.
"Judged from the epidemiological history of the case, the testing results of samples taken from suspected goods and the genetic sequencing results of the case, we cannot rule out the possibility that the patient was infected by virus carried by goods from overseas," she said.
She urged people to take precautions such as wearing gloves when opening international mail and avoiding purchases from overseas.
AP/Reuters
