Friday, October 11, 2024

To avoid chaos, Beijing 2022 lowers the sensitivity of its tests

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Virginia Whitehead
Virginia Whitehead
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In a memo distributed to liaison officers from National Olympic Committees and Games broadcasters, the Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee said participants who produce PCR tests of 35 or more value will not be placed in solitary confinement.

In order to adapt to the realities of the current environment and provide better support to the participants (…) we have improved the countermeasures with the following changes, which will be effective as of January 23 , Beijing reported 2022.

New arrivals providing tests equal to or greater than 35 CT must respect social distancing protocol for 7 days after arrival. Those with results less than 35 will be considered positive. (Editor’s note: The higher the CT scan, the fewer people will get infected.)

This new measure, if implemented literally by the Chinese authorities, will bring a sigh of relief to hundreds, if not thousands, of people (athletes, officials, media representatives) who have contracted (and treated) COVID-19 in recent years. weeks, which is scheduled to land in Beijing in the next few days.

Chinese authorities have said they have set the sensitivity level in their tests at CT 40, while international standards generally revolve around CT 35.


The Canadian Olympic Committee’s chief medical officer, Dr. Mike Wilkins, was the first to sound the alarm last Monday. (A new window).

He said the sensitivity level of the tests conducted by the Chinese authorities was so high that Canadian athletes risked complicating or complicating their games due to the positive results.

Since the beginning of December, dozens of Canadian athletes have contracted COVID-19, including nearly all figure skating and short track speed skating teams. A large percentage of the women’s hockey team suffered the same fate.

mardi, Radio Canada Sports published a text It portends chaos as large groups of athletes, officials and journalists arrive over the next few days.

Two Radio Canada employees, who contracted COVID-19 during December, were placed in isolation upon arrival in Beijing despite the fact that they had given five negative PCR tests before they left. The tests were conducted in one of the most reputable laboratories in Canada.

Then, from day to day, the test results of these two members of the Radio Canada delegation varied like a yo-yo, going from positive to negative. Many experts spontaneously jumped when they learned of this story.

The CEO of a large Canadian laboratory explained that when the sensitivity of the tests is pushed to the limit, the resulting results are equivalent to lottery results because they intercept even small particles of the virus that have been dead for a long time.

On his part, Dr. Michel Roger is of the opinion that the sequence of events he was told was of his own making break-a-brak . The latter is a physician, microbiologist and infectologist at CHUM. Until last September, he was director of the Quebec Public Health Laboratory.

In light of the inside information, a Canadian expert estimated that the sensitivity of the Chinese tests was significantly higher than the declared value of CT 40.


This story has been covered in various media around the world, including the famous specialist site francsjeux.com. It created a great wave of anxiety among representatives of the media and major broadcasters.

In recent days, in another internal memo addressed to liaison officers from various delegations, the Beijing 2022 conference once again praised the effectiveness of detection and isolation protocols.

Last Friday, the International Olympic Committee made its medical director, Dr. Brian McCluskey, available to reporters from Radio Canada and CBC. To say that the extreme sensitivity of the tests was necessary And that the number of intercepted cases was small.

But on the ground, many international broadcasters were going through a different reality. Many of their employees who fully complied with protocol, however strict it may be, have been quarantined. Since everyone was subject to the same standards, this was a precursor to the fate of the athletes.

According to our sources, this weekend, NBC had 14 laid-off employees, France Télé 4, and OBS (the network that provides competition coverage) had at least 22 employees. Put a large number of people in isolation. Some even mentioned a climate of panic .

And as far as our Radio Canada Sports colleagues are concerned, one of them was released from solitary confinement on Saturday. Another person was put into isolation the same day, 24 hours after they were finally declared negative! In their case, the Chinese lottery Since they arrived eight days ago.

However, adjustments to sensitivity rates, as well as other measures announced by Chinese authorities, should allow them to start working. At least we hope so.


A lot of people realized that things were really out of control over the past week when NBC announced that its processors and analysts They were going to describe the competitions from the United States.

The network cited the intransigence of the Chinese authorities regarding COVID-19 as the reason for the move. NBC, which invested $7.75 billion in 2014 to secure the rights to broadcast the Games, is the IOC’s most influential partner. NBC even dictates quiz times. The American network is, so to speak, co-owner of the games.

The NBC delegation is so large that no matter where the games are held around the world, the US headquarters takes on the appearance of a small village fed by a cafeteria that serves quality food 24 hours a day, and even a Starbucks arranged for its employees only.

In short, for NBC to decide to keep its most visible employees at home, the concerns must be real.

It will now be necessary to monitor how large groups of athletes and media representatives arrive over the next few days in Beijing. The first Canadian athletes bound for China are scheduled to leave the country on Wednesday, January 26th.

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