In a dramatic turn of events, the Australian curling team have secured their first win at the Winter Olympics after they were set to fly out of China.
Australian curlers Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt thought they were on the way home after Gill presented a positive COVID-19 test.
However, the Medical Expert Panel (MEP) in Beijing decided to let them stay and compete.
Here's why.
Firstly, what are the testing requirements at the Games?
According to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), "participants need to have at least two negative pre-departure tests within 96 and 72 hours prior to their departure, [and] they will immediately be tested upon arrival".
Games participants are also asked to take a PCR test at the airport and are PCR-tested daily in Beijing.
And what if athletes test positive?
The IOC said: "Athletes and Games participants who test positive and are asymptomatic will be discharged from isolation once they have two consecutive negative PCR test results 24 hours apart."
But "unclear situations following confirmed positive tests can be reviewed by the MEP".
The MEP's assessment will include "a comprehensive evaluation of each individual’s previous history of vaccination, testing and infection as well as their environment".
Who is on the Medical Expert Panel?
The MEP is composed of 20 members.
The ICO said it includes a "combination of virologists, public health and infectious disease experts from China and around the world, including representatives of the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee and the International Winter Sports Federations".
The panel is chaired by Dr Brian McCloskey.
So why could Gill still compete?
One of the things the MEP will consider when determining if an athlete can compete, despite being COVID-positive, are the cycle threshold (Ct) values.
As the Australian Olympic Committee explained in a statement:
And what are Ct values?
Well, ABC Fact Check has previously asked Dr Julian Druce, who is the head of the virus identification laboratory at the Doherty Institute, to explain just that.
He said the Ct value of a positive test is the number of cycles it took before the signal was able to be identified, with higher values equating to a weaker positive due to less virus being present in the sample.
"A strong positive sample has a lower Ct value — so something that comes up at cycle 15, for instance, is very strong, extraordinarily strong. Something that comes up at Ct 30 is quite low," he told ABC Fact Check.
A person returning a positive PCR test with a Ct value above 30 was "very unlikely to be infectious," Dr Druce said.
Dr McCloskey has explained how Ct values are used to assess whether athletes can safely compete.
"We will be as accurate as possible to ensure we do not let COVID into the closed-loop system, but at the same time not get people excluded who are not really infectious," he said.
"Anyone can submit their data to the Medical Expert Panel and we will form a judgement: Is it safe to let this person out, is this a case of persistent positive after recovery or is it a case of reinfection?
"We can look at vaccination history. We can look at all that data and assess: 'Can we let them into the Village or do we let them into the Village, but under different restrictions to try and minimise the risk?' The priority has to be to keep the Games safe."
Meanwhile, another Aussie athlete hasn't been able to get into China
Australian alpine skier Katie Parker was forced to miss out on the women's giant slalom because she will not arrive in China in time for the event.
"Parker had previously contracted COVID in the United States prior to her planned departure for Beijing," an AOC statement read.
"Ongoing positive tests delayed her departure until she was able to complete two negative tests at 96 and 72 hours and will be flying out to arrive Tuesday."
Parker will still be able to contest the women's slalom on Wednesday.
