Of the 11 Covid-19 cases newly discovered in the last 24 hours, four were brought by the Neftehimik hockey team from Russia. Athletes arrived in Riga on Thursday, spent training at “Arena Riga”. Analyzes were performed according to the continental hockey league (KHL) medical protocol, which showed positive results for four guests. After spending the night at the hotel, all the athletes and staff flew away on Friday.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, KHL has been developed with special arrangements for how hockey players travel and work. Security in Latvia is taken care of and supervised by Dinamo Rīga. The Center for Disease Prevention and Control (SPKC) calls on these organizers to ask all questions about what has happened to these hockey players, as this is their responsibility.
The representative of “Dinamo” is reassured – the Nizhny Novgorod team has arrived in Riga with a special speed, and there has been no contact with other passengers. This is also confirmed at the airport.
“They walk along a separate corridor so as not to meet other passengers. The luggage has been processed, and the employees who work with it already observe additional protection for our special security measures, everything is additionally cleaned and disinfected, ”explains Laura Karnite, a representative of Riga Airport.
Athletes boarded the bus from the airport and went to the Islande hotel, where the two floors are specially adapted for traveling robotics, and the staff does not contact them.
The only ones they contacted were the drivers who took them from the airport to the hotel, from the hotel to Arena Riga. They had one workout while it was happening, all the arena staff was gone. All KHL arenas have a clean area. The staff was at the premises. After that, the disinfection company processed everything, ”says Ēriks Didrihsons, a representative of Rīgas Dinamo.
All the athletes felt good, we had no symptoms, so it was a big surprise that the test of four turned out to be positive. After the training, the team went to the “Islande Hotel”, where they spent the night.
“There is a security company in the hotel, they control them. After these situations, we think we will do even stricter than required by law, so that athletes do not come out at all, do not participate in society, ”says the representative of” Rīgas Dinamo “.
On Friday, the athletes were taken to the airport “Riga”, which was waiting for them in even stricter security conditions. Laura Karnīte: “They didn’t even go through the passenger terminal, through a separate checkpoint, with a separate border check, immediately boarded the plane. (TV3: Those people who were in contact – border guards, airport employees, should be quarantined?) All employees worked with protective equipment, but we work with SPKC, which will determine what measures we have to follow for those employees who were in contact, but the work process is as follows. to give maximum protection to workers. “
As Covid-19’s security measures are perceived and observed in other League countries, the “Dynamics” have not yet felt it on their skin, but it will soon have to be experienced.
“The first trip is on September 14, then I will be able to tell how it is in other halls. As far as the guests have come, they say – what they see in “Arena Riga” is the best they have seen. A lot has been done, ”says the team representative.
KHL athletes perform Covid-19 tests every fifth day, and for the time being only when entering Latvia, the test must be performed again. The organizers promise to contact the spectators who bought the tickets for today’s game in person. Money will be returned or tickets will be offered for exchange.
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