After fierce debates about the corona tests at the Winter Games in Beijing, the organizers have relaxed the strict rules somewhat. The core of the guidelines published by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Monday is that the CT value for a positive test is set 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 fixed at 40. Experts assume that with such a high value, a viral load can still be detected, but the viruses are no longer active, so the person is no longer contagious.
Because of the previously unclear specifications, athletes and officials such as the German Alpine Director Wolfgang Maier had expressed concern that many athletes who had tested negative before their departure could test positive after their arrival in Beijing. Wolfgang Schobersberger, who heads the medical-scientific commission of the IOC in Beijing, recently confirmed in delivery man: “We have found that people who have long since recovered are suddenly positive again in subsequent tests. The CT value can sometimes fluctuate over several weeks.” The more sensitive the tests are adjusted, as in China, the greater the risk that even those who have recovered will spill back into the positive range again and again. Among other things, this had recently happened to two employees of a Canadian radio station.
So far, 76 positive cases have been registered upon entry and in the bladder
Under these circumstances, the matter is clear, said IOC doctor Schobersberger recently: “Anyone who gets infected now has a high probability of running the Olympics.” The fact that the guidelines have now been changed may also be a reaction to the latest criticism. However, the scenario of being tested positive in Beijing still threatens many athletes who recently became infected, including two-time skeleton world champion Axel Jungk and junior world champion Hannah Neise from Germany. On Monday evening, the German Olympic Sports Confederation announced that one of its supervisors in the Zhangjiakou ski area had tested positive for the virus. The supervisor is symptom-free, is in a quarantine hotel and has not had close contact with other members of the delegation.
The organizers had previously reported 75 cases upon entry and in the so-called Olympic bubble, where all participants are, strictly isolated from the outside world.
Anyone who tests positive at the games in Beijing (from February 4th) must first go to an isolation facility. After two negative PCR tests, he can return to action. If he is still in quarantine after ten days, a negative PCR test with the newly defined limit is sufficient to end the isolation – provided the person concerned has no symptoms. The participants are then tested twice a day; the duration of this action has been reduced from two weeks to seven days.
