Obviously, the biggest challenge for the athletes and the media delegations who will take part in the Beijing Olympics… will be to enter China.
Posted at 10:32
A report by Radio-Canada journalist Martin Leclerc, published Tuesday evening, highlighted the setbacks of two members of the state-owned company’s team with the COVID-19 screening tests carried out by China during their arrival in the country.
If you have been infected with COVID-19 in the last few weeks, the country requires five negative tests before you even fly. Upon arrival, these no longer have any value. China conducts its own tests. After a positive result on arrival, Chinese public health requires two consecutive negative screenings before you can go about your business freely.
Except that China’s tests are at extreme levels of sensitivity, causing a waltz of detecting negative, then positive, then negative and positive again. According to the CEO of a company specializing in laboratory tests and analyzes quoted by Martin Leclerc, “if the sensitivity of a test has climbed into the carpet, the test becomes very likely to produce false positives”.
“It kind of becomes a lottery. You will be declared positive even if we pick up virus debris that has died, ”he explains.
If this situation is nerve-wracking for members of the media, imagine the level of stress among athletes. And especially those who have contracted COVID in the last few weeks. Martin Leclerc lists almost all of the Canadian bobsleigh and short track teams, as well as several members of the women’s hockey team. With such strict detection and quarantine standards related to COVID-19, the presence of many of these athletes at the Games is in danger.
After a positive result on your arrival, you are in isolation while waiting to produce two negative tests. After two positives, you are quarantined for 14 days. And not exactly in a 5-star loft: the two members of the Radio-Canada team were transported to a dismal former hotel transformed into an isolation center. After pressure from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), this place was closed, and the 14-day quarantines will be moved elsewhere.
In view of this chaotic situation, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) has set up a “multinational panel of medical experts” who will examine questionable positive cases “under a scientific magnifying glass”.
“It is important to note that while the frequent testing in Beijing is designed to identify infections early and prevent transmission, it is not intended to unfairly exclude those who test false positives or who have recovered from the COVID, while continuing to loathe the virus”, explains the COC, in a press release sent to The Press.
“Team Canada’s safety, including that of athletes, coaches and support staff, is always a priority, regardless of where the Games are played,” the COC said.
“We are working closely with the IOC and the Beijing Olympics Organizing Commission (BOOGC) to ensure that Team Canada members who have recovered from COVID are able to compete while respecting Chinese rules. of public health. »