This two week quarantine OR two negative tests is how my place of work manages return to work criteria for employees who have tested positive and the only transmission we've had between employees was for field testing where the customer showed up unannounced and got everyone sick. For context, I work at a VERY large company, more than 12k people alone in my city/site. So to have no reports of transmission inside the facility is fairly significant. I don't question that this is good policy. I think it is because the WHO and CDC have all but proven asymptomatic transmission is nearly impossible, and that if there is not enough viral load in the body to test positive, there is definitely not enough to transmit to others. So this makes sense. No need to prolong your downtime if you are not actually contagious.
On the other hand, I wonder if it is not just because of the Grand Prix event, but also other factors. Working with Karisma no doubt put her around a bunch of people. Though, I will say letting ANYONE from TeamTut into the Grand Prix event so close after Zhenya getting it (and *unconfirmed* but also Anna) was probably quite reckless as well. Alina, Kamila, Daniil... all of them had to have had contact with Zhenya and Anna.
Or perhaps it is only that she tested positive and is not ill. Elon Musk tested positive on a sample taken from one nostril and negative on a sample taken from another. The PCR test was recently banned for use as a diagnostic in a country (Ecuador?? The name is evading me as I type this) and has a notably high false positive rate. Most diagnostic tools require they be run a certain number of cycles to "amplify" the virus, so for covid, it is around 30. Any higher and the test will start giving back a significant number of false positives. The UK medical staff have been advised to run them in the 40's. This makes no sense, the tool is being misused. So many factors to consider when we talk about what Aliona testing positive actually means.
It is also possible it is strategic, no? Say she has tested positive to give an excuse for her absence and use the four-five days to really train where she would be unable to? That's really quite a significant amount of time. She did podium at the Rostelcom which was essentially a Russian Cup event, and had top Russian Cup competitors, so I imagine they'll accept the result there as if it were a Cup qualifier. Though, if they do that, they may have to accept the results for other athletes, which may skew some rankings? I've not been keeping up with the points.
If she is in fact sick, though, it would be horrible news, and I hope that it is simply one of the scenarios above. What a rough season for her. ):
Just want to offer my best to Aliona for a quick complete recovery .. it would mean everything to those of us who love her to see her back, spirits high, enjoying to the full what she does best!
