Things are bad in Beijing: BRICK-A-BROK tests by the Chinese government

Before the editor’s note goes further, I have been able to follow this article hour by hour for the past few days, as my wife Chantelle Leville is directly involved in it. She is the Editor-in-Chief of Radio-Canada Sports. Another colleague involved in the case asked not to be named in the text because he feared retaliation from Chinese authorities.

End of vision.

At each Olympic Games, Chantal Leville and many other radio-Canadian / CBC colleagues arrive at the site several days earlier than teams of journalists, commentators, cameramen and technicians. Some technicians also arrive months in advance. These colleagues are responsible for paving the way for the rest of the delegation. They make sure our newsroom, communication systems and all our platform locations are up when we roll out our coverage.

We broadcast about 23 hours a day during games and the site has over a hundred employees. Everything should work like clockwork.

Last Saturday, therefore, a team of seven Radio-Canadian employees arrived in Beijing. Of the group, only Chantal Leville and a colleague were infected with COVID-19 last December. Both were double-vaccinated, however, and were considered completely safe because the chances of contracting COVID-19 twice in a short period of time were very low.

In addition, Chinese authorities demanded that everyone produce less than five negative tests before moving to Beijing! The tests were performed at the highest rated private laboratories in Canada.

The problem is, when you land in China, the tests done elsewhere are of no value. In a text published yesterday by our colleagues on CBCJewelry (New window)Jewelry, Dr. Mike Wilkinson, Chief Medical Officer of the Canadian Olympic Committee, sounded the alarm for this effect. In his opinion, there is a risk that many Canadian athletes will see their games compromised.

When they were tested after arriving at the Beijing airport, they were surprised to find that Chantal Leville and her colleague had tested positive. Keep in mind that they underwent five negative tests before departure, the last of which was less than 72 hours before departure from Montreal.

Three times a day, someone puts a meal on the porch of his house.

Her colleague’s second test came back negative. The next day she was able to start a business but, the next day, Chinese officials told her the latest result. Incomplete . After that she was subject to a strict 14-day protocol of not being in close contact with anyone, as well as having to dine alone and take a different corridor to get to the Radio-Canada campus on the Center International Broadcast.

On Tuesday, 24 hours later, she was told she had a positive test and was immediately placed in solitary confinement.

Last Monday, two days after she arrived, Chantal Leville presented a negative test. She knew in that look that he had failed her. But the next day, Chinese authorities warned her that she would start testing positive again

In fact, the Chinese pushed the sensitivity of their tests to an extreme level.

Dr. Wilkinson explained that the bicycle threshold (often marked as CT value on test results) used by the Chinese was 40. The higher the cycle threshold, the less likely the person being tested is to be infected. In Canada, the cycle threshold for determining that a person is no longer infected is 35. Our colleagues from the CBC wrote that the threshold established by the NHL and the NBA is 30.

If the sensitivity of the test rises to the rug, the test is more likely to produce false positives. It becomes a kind of lottery. Even if we pick up dead virus debris you will still be declared positive , Explained to me by the CEO of a large company specializing in laboratory testing and analysis. However, for commercial reasons, he was asked not to be identified.

Dr. Michelle Roger agrees. Doctor, Microbiologist and Infectiologist in the next CHUM. Until last September, he was director of the Quebec Public Health Laboratory. This laboratory is responsible for the PCR tests conducted in Quebec.

“Leaving regardless of the country, you may miss the exams. Sometimes you get the wrong result. But I think the situation you described (among two colleagues from Radio-Canada) was a little stronger. To see the same person moving from negative to positive every day after producing five negative tests, is Brick-a-Brock. ⁇

The results go from negative to positive like yo-yo which means that the virus size in the nasopharynx is very small, sometimes the test catches it and sometimes not. When existence is very low, we cannot raise it because the virus is dead , He explained.

This situation leads to confusion between Radio-Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee teams. According to my superiors, many other international broadcasters are struggling with a similar situation.

Today, Catherine DuPont, senior director of sports & Olympic production at Radio-Canada, announced that Beijing Games will not be covering employees who were recently infected with COVID-19. I am the most part. Counting CBC colleagues, there were a dozen of us to watch our assignment be canceled.

This decision is fully justified. At some point, you should stop playing insane.

That said, our destiny in this story is very small. Athletes, however. And the important thing is that anyone in Canada can light up quickly. We need to learn a quick lesson from this experience.

Over the past few weeks, dozens and dozens of Canadian athletes have been exposed to COVID-19. For example, almost all members of the Bobsleigh and short track speed skating teams have COVID-19, as well as a large percentage of the women’s hockey team.

If the standards in place are maintained, a large number of athletes are sure to see their games end before they start. Or they may be in solitary confinement long enough to spoil performances that have taken years to prepare.

During the Kovid the Chinese wanted to present games. Let them take it now. There is no question that they are locking up our players.

Note: At the time of publication, we learned that Chinese officials, following pressure from the IOC, had decided to close the locked isolation center by our colleagues. They are alone elsewhere. However they have not yet escaped from the forests.