BBC SCOTLAND TEAM FORCED TO ISOLATE IN TOKYO
Olympic reporters confined to hotel rooms for 14 days after aeroplane contact tests positive
BBC Scotland’s Olympics reporting team has been confined to hotel rooms due to Covid quarantine rules.
The group has been forced to undergo 14 days of self-isolation in Tokyo after coming into close contact with a passenger on a flight to Japan who subsequently tested positive for Covid-19.
The Pacific Quay delegation, led by sports correspondent Chris McLaughlin, were on the same commercial flight as some Team GB athletes. However, Olympic Games rules do not require competitors to self-isolate.
Mr McLaughlin confirmed he and two colleagues were trapped in their hotel. He tweeted: ‘Hugely frustrated that BBC Scotland team here in Tokyo identified as close contacts to a Covid case on flight over. Rules say self-isolate in hotel room for 14 days. Numerous PCR tests negative. Athletes on same flight also identified but rules say they don’t isolate.’
This week six Team GB athletes were given special dispensation to train alone at the team camp in Yokohama after a passenger on their flight tested positive. The athletes showed no symptoms and had negative PCR tests.
The opening ceremony for the Games, which were delayed by a year due to the pandemic, takes place in the Olympic Stadium on Friday. The Games run until August 8, which means the BBC Scotland team will be free to attend only the final few days of events.
Liam Morgan, of the Inside The Games website, wrote that the number of journalists self-isolating ‘sets a concerning precedent’.
He added: ‘We are already subjected to various restrictions as it is. This is excessive and, quite frankly, unacceptable.’
A BBC Scotland spokesman said last night: ‘BBC Scotland has a small number of staff in Tokyo who are self-isolating. Chris will continue to provide sports news analysis for BBC Scotland outlets during self-isolation and it is expected the team will be deployed for the final week of the Games.’
The BBC sent 437 staff to cover the Beijing Olympics in 2008. However, it has refused to say how many staff are covering the Games this year. A spokesman said only a ‘small team’ of UK staff had been sent by the corporation to Tokyo.
She added: ‘The majority of our team will be based in Salford this year. We won’t be disclosing exact numbers but we can confirm that only a small team of reporters will be sent to Tokyo.’
On the BBC Scotland website, Mr
McLaughlin said: ‘Mitigating risk was the key to selling the safety of a Games many believed should have been cancelled instead of postponed. Given those risks, BBC Scotland scaled back the numbers of those who would travel.
‘In the end it was decided on a team of three – myself, my producer and a cameraman. We recorded our temperatures for 14 days before flying and took daily PCR tests for three days before our travel date.
‘On arrival into Tokyo the scale of the counter-Covid operation became clear. An army of officials checked paperwork as we were moved, with great efficiency and welcoming smiles, to various checkpoints. After getting the all clear... we finally made it through.’
But he added: ‘Two days into quarantine I was awakened by a text from my producer.
‘It was alerting me to a story about six Team GB athletes and two officials who had been identified as close contacts.
‘They were now self-isolating. The side eye emoji that accompanied the link said it all.’
It emerged yesterday that Philip Barker, secretary of the Sports Journalists’ Association, has also been forced to self-isolate in his Tokyo hotel room. Meanwhile, the head of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee did not rule out a lastminute cancellation of the Olympics, as more athletes tested positive and sponsors ditched plans to attend the opening ceremony.
Toshiro Muto, the committee’s chief executive, said: ‘We can’t predict what will happen with the number of coronavirus cases. So we will continue discussions if there is a spike.
‘At this point, the coronavirus cases may rise or fall, so we will think about what we should do when the situation arises.’
Rates of infection in Tokyo have risen by half, and infections among athletes are increasing. A growing number of dignitaries, including Empress Masako and some of Japan’s most senior business leaders, have announced they will not attend the opening ceremony.
But a gathering of Japanese and Olympic leaders yesterday expressed determination to press on with the Games, despite the worsening pandemic and continuing public opposition.
Last week, the Scottish anchor of the BBC’s Open golf coverage, Eilidh Barbour, was identified as a close contact and had to hand over presenting duties to a colleague.
‘Excessive and unacceptable’