PCR tests mandatory for all visitors to Beijing

By Koki Kataoka / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

14:39 JST, January 21, 2022

BEIJING — Two weeks ahead of the start of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the city is on high alert to prevent another wave of the COVID-19 epidemic, especially after the first community spread of the omicron variant was confirmed here on Jan. 15.

Beijing authorities have decided to require all visitors to the Chinese capital to have a PCR test within the first 72 hours after their arrival, during the period from Saturday to the end of March, after the Paralympics are over.

On Thursday near the Beijing National Stadium, nicknamed the Bird’s Nest, which is to be the venue of the Games’ opening and closing ceremonies, a long line of residents formed in the heavy snow, waiting to take PCR tests at a temporary testing site.