Rechercher dans ce blog

Tuesday, January 25, 2022

New COVID-19 testing threshold for Beijing Games only raises more questions - CBC Sports

The Beijing Olympic Comittee's decision to lower the testing threshold for athletes upon arrival on Sunday has only appeared to raise more questions rather than provide clarity.

The cycle threshold (Ct) of 40 in order to produce a negative COVID-19 test for any participant arriving at the Olympics was lowered to 35.

For context, the NBA and NHL use a threshold of 30, while the NFL uses 35. As well, many places throughout Canada use a Ct value of 35.

On the latest episode of CBC Sports video series Bring It In, host Morgan Campbell is joined by panellists Meghan McPeak and Dave Zirin to discuss how the new testing threshold for the Beijing Olympics could help more athletes get to the Games, but also the new questions it raises and what that could mean for athletes upon arrival.

"There's so much that we don't know in terms of how this is going to be processed, and let's say it — there's a real lack of trust," Zirin said. "The lack of trust is not just with Beijing and the Chinese government, it's with the IOC [International Olympic Committee] as well.

"So being able to compute what actually will constitute a safe Winter Olympics, make things safe not just for the athletes but for the people of Beijing, it becomes very, very difficult to decipher."

WATCH | Bring It In panel discusses updated COVID-19 testing threshold in Beijing:

The Beijing Olympic Committee lowers cycle threshold for COVID-19 testing | Bring It In

4 hours ago

Duration 8:22

The Bring It In panel weighs in on the Beijing Olympic Committee changing their testing threshold for COVID-19 and what impact that decision could have on Beijing 2022. 8:22

From Campbell's view, the shortage of information to help people understand the values in the numbers makes it difficult to contextualize the meaning of them.

"From a communication standpoint, one thing we could all benefit from, which nobody with the power seems to want to give us, is a scale ... What do these different values mean? The numbers sort of mean something and they sort of give us some clarity, but they wind up raising more questions than they answer because they don't have context," he said.

With questions having already existed as to how the Olympics will end up transpiring, McPeak makes her case as to how many more exist regarding the process once athletes are in Beijing and ready to compete.

"Does this threshold being lowered to 35 allow you that, if you do test positive, can only isolate for a certain amount of time and then return as long as your test results after that are 35 or under so that you continue to meet that threshold?," McPeak said.

"That's my concern, is people who get there and then test positive, what does that look like for them? Especially the athletes who might get there and have to compete a couple of days later. We don't know what their situation looks like right now leading up to leaving for Beijing," she added.

WATCH | Bring It In panel discusses sustainability concerns facing Beijing Games:

Sustainability issues facing the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics | Bring It In

4 hours ago

Duration 13:37

Host Morgan Campbell sits down with Sr. Editor of Treehugger.com Katherine Martinko and 2x Olympian Seyi Smith to discuss the sustainability issues facing the Beijing Winter Olympics and the future of sustainable sport. 13:37

Campbell, joined by Katherine Martinko and two-time Olympian Seyi Smith, also discussed the sustainability issues that Beijing faces with the 2022 Games.

According to Martinko, Beijing is set to use 49 million gallons of water to produce fake snow for alpine events. Martinko also points to how the practice is not new, as it happened at the Sochi Games in 2014, where an Olympic pool worth of water was used every hour to produce fake snow. The making of the artificial snow has lasting effects on the environment.

Smith, on the other hand, who is running for election to the IOC's Athletes' Commission, spoke of his intention to help be more tactical about how the IOC and other comparable organizations can be more environmentally friendly.

Adblock test (Why?)


New COVID-19 testing threshold for Beijing Games only raises more questions - CBC Sports
Read More

No comments:

Post a Comment

Lupus and other autoimmune diseases strike far more women than men. Now there's a clue why - CTV News

WASHINGTON - Women are far more likely than men to get autoimmune diseases, when an out-of-whack immune system attacks their own bodies -...