BEIJING: The Beijing Games organizers confirmed Friday that the Winter Olympics torch relay will be closed to the public over COVID-19 concerns.
The relay involving 1,200 torchbearers will begin on Feb. 2 and wind up just two days later, on Feb. 4, when the Games open in the capital, Beijing, and neighboring Hebei province.
“This torch relay will always prioritize safety,” Yang Haibin, an official from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports told a briefing.
“Taking into account factors such as epidemic prevention … the torch relay and ceremonial activities will be arranged in safe and controllable closed venues.”
Beijing, the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Games, is on high alert for the coronavirus after a handful of small outbreaks in various parts of the country that authorities have responded to with sweeping restrictions and mass testing.
All of the torchbearers must be vaccinated and will be tested for the virus and have their health monitored for 14 days before the relay.
The relay route, which will be much shorter than previous ones, will include a stop at the Great Wall, China’s most famous landmark, as well as central Beijing’s Olympic parks, the Summer Palace and other venues including International Grape Exhibition Garden and Zhangjiakou Industrial Culture Park.
Only selected members of the public will be allowed to watch the relay in person.
Ahead of last summer’s Tokyo Olympics, the torch traveled more than 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) in 121 days but was moved off public roads due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The relay ahead of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics covered 2,018 kilometers.
The flame for Beijing’s Winters Games was lit in Greece in an October ceremony that was disrupted by human rights activists.
Beijing and the Hebei city of Zhangjiakou will stage the Games from Feb 4. to Feb. 20 inside a “closed loop” to keep participants apart from the public and without spectators from the general public. -Agencies
