Dining options closed in hotel complex at Beijing Olympics due to COVID concerns

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This article was published 10/02/2022 (1332 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ZHANGJIAKOU, China – The dining options at a Beijing Olympics hotel have been halved due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19.

Two cafés, three restaurants, and a convenience store within the Prince Hotel by Secret Garden compound were closed suddenly on Thursday.

A sign hanging in the window of one of the cafés read “Suspend Business” in English and Mandarin.

Staff at the hotel’s reception desk and a member of the hotel’s disinfection team confirmed that the closures were to prevent the possible spread of the virus.

About 2,600 journalists, technicians, coaches and sport officials live in the complex in the Zhangjiakou mountain zone of the Winter Games.

There are no reports of COVID-19 outbreaks in the 10-building complex.

Two buffets and two bars within the hotel’s main building remain open and 24-hour room service with a very limited menu is also available.

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The complex is part of a so-called closed loop designed to keep COVID-19 out of Olympic venues.

Residents are tested for COVID-19 every morning and must wear a KN95 or N95 mask at all times, even when outdoors.

A mask may only come off when a resident is in their own room, when they’re eating, or if they’re smoking.

Plexiglas partitions divide every dining table and before entering a buffet residents must sanitize their hands and then put on plastic gloves.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 11, 2022.