Bubbles, bio or whatever you call it - can burst anytime
A bio-bubble is an imaginary safe and risk-free environment that is used to host sporting events during the COVID-19 pandemic where all involved stakeholders, namely players, officials, administrators, broadcasters, support staff etc. live and move around within a defined space. The bio-secure environment can be sections of a hotel and/or stadium and the players and all those involved are permitted access only to those parts to prevent any physical interaction with the outside world.
To enter a bio-bubble, a player for example; must obtain a negative test result, from a RT-PCR test before leaving his/her home country. Upon arrival at the destination, the player will undergo another PCR test and stay confined in a room until the results are declared. Once he/she tests negative – the player can proceed to the hotel, which by itself is one of several zones created within the bio-bubble space. Even within the hotel, the player’s movements can be restricted and during that entire visit, he/she can expect to be COVID- tested regularly to maintain the integrity of the bubble. To say that staying in a hotel under the wrap of a bio-bubble can be comparable to a prison with five star comforts is no exaggeration.
Despite all the precautions, there are no guarantees of full protection as evidenced during India’s recent tour of Sri Lanka, when Indian player Krunal Pandya tested positive for COVID-19 prior to the 2nd T20 International in Colombo.
Air Travel Bubble (ATB)
A travel bubble called a travel corridor, is a partnership between two or more places or countries with similar rates of covid-19 that grant quarantine-free leisure travel in both directions. A travel bubble does not mean that one gets to visit as one was able to prior to COVID-19.Rather, travel bubbles include testing requirements that must be validated to avoid quarantine. In short, a travel bubble is a ‘controlled return of quarantine-free air travel between designated cities or countries. It may be restricted to a quota (e.g. 200 travelers per day) into each city.
In November last year, Hong Kong and Singapore were set to debut Asia’s first travel bubble. Recall if you may, that this was before any vaccine was available. However, that did not occur due to a rise in cases in Hong Kong and it was postponed to 26th May 2021 – only to be pushed back again; this time due to an increase in cases in Singapore. A new date was to be set in June. Now both countries, citing differences in the anti-epidemic strategies between the two places, have finally abandoned plans for the long-delayed ATB between the two cities.
Many of the Air Travel Bubbles that were in-place came to a spluttering halt. England, for instance recalled quarantine free travel arrangements with Spain 14 days after permitting travel there. In reality, there has been more talk about possible travel bubbles than there have been actual bubbles implemented.
Not for nothing is quarantine-free travel within a protected corridor called a ‘bubble’. The word itself brings connotations of ‘fragility’. Lose control and the bubble bursts.
Hospitality Sri Lanka News
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