China canceled plans to sell tickets to the public for the Beijing Winter Olympics on Monday, as Beijing reported its first Omicron case.
"In order to protect the health and safety of Olympic-related personnel and spectators, it was decided to adjust the original plan to sell tickets to the public and (instead) organize spectators to watch the Games on-site," the Beijing Olympic organizing committee said in a statement.
Organizers said last year there would be no international spectators at the Games — partly due to China's weeks-long quarantine requirements — but they had promised to allow domestic audiences.
China has closed religious sites in Beijing as a precautionary measure over spike in COVID-19 cases.
Lama Temple, a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in central Beijing, said it was closing down for an unspecified period due to the COVID-19 epidemic and control measures.
On Sunday, China reported 65 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases for Jan. 15, just weeks from the February 4 start of the city’s Winter Olympic Games and the country’s Lunar New Year holiday.
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