Beijing: Officials of the Beijing Olympics reported detection of 24 new cases on January 31st amongst those arriving for the tournament. Eighteen of the cases were found among new arrivals, according to a notice on the Beijing 2022 official website.
Six others were from those already in the veritable fortress that separates all event personnel from the public. Out of 8,000 people that have come for the games – 211 have tested positive so far, reported a close source.
With the event scheduled to commence in less than 3 days, the organizers are hoping for stadium capacities of at least 30 per cent despite China’s enforcement of tight regulations to contain the spread of the Covid-19 virus, the International Olympic Committee said on Tuesday.
The tickets for the winter tournament haven’t been sold in open, as decided by the organizers. Targeted groups are being handed over the tickets. As said earlier, the committee has decided to call off an international audience this time. Meanwhile, locals receiving the tickets will be required to undertake strict Covid-19 prevention measures before, during and after attending Olympic events.
“In terms of capacity we are not there yet, because it has to be fine-tuned at a venue-by-venue basis, but I’d say if we have one person out of three (available spots) or out of two, that would already be a good result,” the IOC’s Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi said.