INTERNATIONAL: Amid the Covid-19 pandemic and less than a month before the start of the Winter Olympics, Beijing has found a way to use less staff in the kitchens and restaurants, and cope with social distancing measures required to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

The futuristic solution found is to serve food through robotic platforms that deliver plates from the ceiling through a wire.

Other machines can also be seen in the kitchens, with a robot producing a hamburger for journalists who have arrived at the Olympic venue.

Journalists arriving early for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing have been among the first to have their food served to them remotely by robots.

While noodles are a fairly conventional dish in China, 'noodles from the ceiling' aren't, but that's the way lunch is dished up in the canteen in the Main Press Centre.

The delivery system was a real novelty for the journalists who arrived on Tuesday, with their burgers even being prepared robotically.

The upcoming Winter Olympics will have stricter Covid-19 protocols for visiting media, athletes and officials than that seen at the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2021. All those who enter the Olympic village will be confined to a bubble which they cannot leave, and no interaction will be allowed between those inside and outside of it.

Only those who undergo a three-week quarantine upon arrival can work outside the bubble, although once they leave, they will not be able to come back in.

However, unlike Tokyo, domestic spectators will be allowed to attend the sporting events. The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics are set to begin on 4 February.