On the sidelines of a Health Bureau (SSM) press conference, medical director of the Conde São Januário Hospital, Alvis Lo Iek Long, told the Times that he was personally not aware of the Sports Bureau (ID) requiring all dragon boat athletes registered for the upcoming races to be tested for Covid-19.
Sources show that the ID issued a notice on the testing requirement in haste. The races will be held on June 21 and 25, but originally the ID required that athletes take the test this week.
On Monday, the ID issued another notice, telling athletes that the test requirement would be put on hold. It is believed that the ID will issue further notices to fully explain the requirement in the near future.
When the ID announced that it would retain the annual dragon boat races this year on May 5, it only announced that it would restrict the number of teams to a smaller number than last year, as well as require athletes to wear masks before and after their races.
As such, the Covid-19 nucleic acid test requirement was added later and has only been enacted recently.
Currently, the SSM requires the border-crossing population to take the test every seven days to retain their eligibility to cross the border. Should the ID require athletes to take the test, this validity period means that the results obtained will not cover both race days. Participating athletes may then need to undergo another test for the second race day.
However, Lo explained that the validity period for the test should be considered alongside other factors. Merely setting a threshold may not be meaningful, he suggested. “The result will be meaningless if you [come into] contact with a Covid-19 patient right after a test,” Lo explained.
Another concern that the athletes have is whether this test will use their first-timer free quota. Many athletes are students and are not yet earning their own income. The test is priced at 180 patacas for each time taken.
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