NAfter fierce debates about the corona tests at the Winter Games, the Olympic organizers have relaxed the strict rules somewhat. The core of the guidelines published by the International Olympic Committee on Monday is the setting of the controversial CT value (Cycle Threshold) for a positive test to below 35. The lower this value, the more contagious a person is. In Germany, according to the Robert Koch Institute, a positive result is only available if the CT value is less than 30. In China, this value is actually fixed at 40.
Because of the previously different and sometimes unclear specifications, athletes and officials had expressed concern that many athletes who had tested negative before their departure could test positive after their arrival. It was “madness how people test there,” said Felix Loch, the record world champion in luge, about the China value: “Nobody does that in Germany or Europe anymore.”
Dirk Schimmelpfennig, board member for competitive sports in the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), had already promised a fundamental solution to the matter. In an interview with Deutschlandfunk, he expressed the hope that the CT value would be reduced to “around 35, around 32” during the games.
“We have to avoid having a positive PCR test from an athlete at the airport in Beijing who had boarded the plane shortly before with a negative PCR test,” said Bernd Eisenbichler, sports director of the biathlon team. The adjustment of the limit value is likely to be a reaction to the general criticism.
39 corona cases in Olympic participants
In the meantime, 39 corona cases were found among Olympic participants during the first wave of arrivals. The Chinese organizers announced on Sunday that none of the 171 athletes and team officials were affected by the positive tests at the airport. The cases are therefore distributed among the 2,415 other accredited persons who arrived in Beijing between January 4th and 22nd.
Anyone who tests positive in Beijing at the games, which are scheduled to start on February 4 and last until February 20, must first go to an isolation facility. After two negative PCR tests, a return is possible. After ten days in quarantine, a negative PCR test with the newly defined limit is sufficient to end isolation, provided there are no symptoms of illness.
After the quarantine, the affected participants are initially listed as close contacts and tested twice a day. The duration for this action has been reduced from 14 days to seven days.
A separate guideline is to be announced for those who test permanently positive. This regulation is intended to enable them to travel home from the games at the “earliest possible” time.
