China has walked away from plans to sell Beijing Winter Olympics tickets to the general public, instead, they will be distributed to "targeted" groups of people, the organizing committee said Monday.

This is the latest in a series of setbacks the Winter Olympics, set to begin on Feb. 4, have suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Organizers had said in September that there would not be any international spectators at the Games, under COVID-19 prevention policies that have all but shut China's borders to international travelers.

It cited the "severe and complex" COVID-19 situation and the need to protect the safety of Olympics personnel and spectators in Monday's announcement.

Local spectators who receive tickets must observe strict COVID-19 prevention measures before, during and after attending Olympic events, the committee said. It did not give further details, or further, specify how tickets would be distributed.

China, which has largely managed to curb local COVID-19 infections, is scrambling to prevent the spread of scattered outbreaks of the highly infectious omicron variant just as the busy Lunar New Year travel period begins.

The Olympics, to be held in the Chinese capital and neighboring Hebei province, will take place in a "closed loop" that will keep athletes and other Games personnel separated from the general Chinese public. Most participants will arrive on special charter planes.

Last month, North America's National Hockey League (NHL) said its players would not participate in the Olympic tournament in Beijing due to COVID-19 disruptions of the league schedule.