China had already barred foreign spectators from attending the Winter Games that begin in Beijing in less than a month. On Monday, it announced that most Chinese people won’t be able to attend either.
Citing the evolving threat from the coronavirus pandemic, the Beijing Organising Committee announced that it was ending ticket sales to the events "to ensure the safety of all participants and spectators.”
The decision came less than two days after health authorities reported Beijing’s first case of the omicron variant and ordered an immediate lockdown and mass testing in one of the capital’s neighborhoods.
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