They spit. They wait. They hope.
About 30,000 people from scores of nations are spitting into tiny plastic vials at the Olympics in a daily routine that’s grown crucial in going ahead with the pandemic-era Games, according to organisers.
If you do the math for the two-week duration of the Olympics, that adds up to a half million saliva samples collected for athletes, who get tested daily, as well as other venues, in an extraordinary effort to curb the spread of Covid-19 infections. At about one millilitre per sample, that would be . well, a lot of spit.
In contrast, such tests have long been hard to find for the general Japanese public. Japan is unique among developed nations in having discouraged widespread testing for the coronavirus.
The tests are being done at a facility called the Fever Clinic, which also cares for and isolates infected people within the so-called Olympic bubble.” Once a COVID-19 infection is identified or suspected, “close contacts” also are tested to identify others who may be ill a whack-a-mole process done under controlled conditions. Organizers wouldn t comment on the number of people working at the clinic or the specific arrangements.
These tests don’t require sticking a swab up one’s nose, another widespread method of testing for the coronavirus.
The tests for athletes, team officials, media and others affiliated with the Games are free to those submitting them, although they are estimated to cost about 10,000 yen ($100) each, medical say experts. Tests for members of the Japanese public generally cost about that much, sometimes more.
In effort to curb COVID, Tokyo Olympics collect lots of spit
Yuri Kageyama
Updated:
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Plastic vials for testing the coronavirus infection sit on a table at the Main Press Center for the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 30, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. About 30,000 people are spitting into tiny plastic vials every day at the Tokyo Olympics in a routine thats grown crucial in going ahead with the pandemic-era Games. (AP Photo)
TOKYO – They spit. They wait. They hope.
About 30,000 people from scores of nations are spitting into tiny plastic vials at the Olympics in a daily routine that’s grown crucial in going ahead with the pandemic-era Games, according to organizers.
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