Indians only need to show two negative Covid reports

Vinayak Padmadeo

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 24

The latest missive from the Tokyo Olympic Games Organising Committee (TOGOC) has come as a relief for the Indian contingent. Now the athletes will not need to upload their health monitoring data for 14 days prior to their departure to Tokyo. As per the clarification, the athletes will now only need to upload seven days of health parameters in the Organising Committee Health App (OCHA).

Besides, the athletes will also now have to upload only two RT-PCR test reports on the OCHA – one taken 96 hours prior to the departure and the second 72 hours prior to the departure.

However, they would still be required to undergo tests for seven days prior to their departure to Tokyo. Deputy chef-de-mission Dr Prem Verma, who is also the Covid Liason Officer (CLO) of the Indian delegation, said that the organisers issued this clarification after Indian Olympic Association (IOA) sought answers about strict testing protocol that were an impediment to the Indian athletes who were still training in India.

Prior to last night’s clarification, the IOA and the sports ministry were looking at a logistical nightmare as the organisers were insisting that the test reports should be from accredited laboratories only. Centres including Sonepat and Pune, where London Olympics bronze medallist MC Mary Kom is training, and a few others like Lucknow and Nagpur had no accredited lab. In that scenario, the athletes would have had to travel outside the training bubble. Other than the disruption in training, the travel would have exposed the athletes to the virus infection.

“Organisers had previously insisted on uploading health data for 14 days prior to the departure, now the organisers have clarified that athletes are only required to upload data for only 7 days prior. Also they only need two negative test reports, one within 96 hours and within 72 hours of departure,” Dr Verma told The Tribune today.

“The two reports have to be from the approved lab and as per the prescribed format. Once an athlete uploads the seven-day health data and those two reports, a QR code will be generated on their smartphones in which they have downloaded the OCHA. The athletes will be required to furnish the QR code at the immigration counter in Tokyo,” Verma added.

The process will not end here. After getting the clearance from immigration, a second QR code will be generated which would lead to a questionnaire from the customs regarding declarations. After an all-clear from the customs, a third QR would be generated. Before moving to the Games Village, the athletes will be given a Rapid Antigen Test. Once in the Village, the athletes will have to undertake daily testing.

“Our athletes still have to get tested for seven days prior to departure. The difference in the new clarification is that apart from the tests conducted 96 hours and 72 hours prior to departure from approved labs, the rest five tests could be either antigen tests or RT PCR that is left on the discretion of our athletes,” Verma said, explaining the complicated testing protocol of the Tokyo Games.

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