Visitors take pictures of the flame of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games displayed at the Olympic Tower near the National Stadium in Beijing on October 23, 2021. Photo: VCG

The Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games clarified the spectator policy on Monday as it decided to suspend open ticket sales. Instead, a designated audience will be selected for the competitions to ensure that they fully meet the anti-epidemic policy in the country. 

In September 2021, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games issued the policy clarifying that the sales of tickets for overseas spectators will not be available. As the anti-epidemic situation remained severe, the committee decided the shift on its plan of openly selling the tickets to only allowing in designated spectators, according to an online statement by the organizing committee. All spectators need to follow the anti-epidemic rules before, during and after the competitions. 

Beijing has stepped up COVID-19 prevention measures after the more contagious Omicron variant appeared in the city which is under preparations to host the Winter Games in just three weeks.

The closed-loop management is the key to prevent COVID-19 with security, transport and other related services fully integrated, according to Cai Qi, secretary of the Communist Party of China Beijing Municipal Committee and president of the Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee. 

A spokesperson of the Beijing Organizing Committee told media on Monday that, since the closed-loop management trial started on January 4, the overall operation has run smoothly and has not affected the lives of the residents of Beijing. 

The Winter Olympic Village will start operations on January 23, when it will start receiving athletes from various countries and regions. During the close loop management trial, nearly 3,000 people were involved and the overall entry system also stood the test of several peak arrivals. 

Despite sporadic outbreaks of COVID-19 in the country and the recently reported Omicron in Beijing, Chinese officials are confident that the virus will not impact the Games. 

"I am fully convinced that as the Chinese government and people have put in place the comprehensive and effective dynamic zero-COVID policy under the leadership of the CPC, you can rest assured that there will be sound epidemic prevention measures for the Beijing Winter Olympics," Zhao Lijian, spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said in a press conference on Monday.