Japan closing borders due to Omicron--GPF canceled

[DreamSkates]

Can you not right now? Fear and propaganda? People literally die from this. Good people. People who deserved better than to be told people were fear-mongering and not to be afraid. Not wanting people to die is not controlling them.

I'll probably just ignore this thread and be done after this, and I do think they can find a way to have the GP final and Olympics. But this ain't it.

Yes, a woman related to someone I know. Age 57. Funeral just 3 weeks ago. Covid is real and does take lives. Hopefully not mine. I'm not pushing any panic buttons but did choose to get vaccinated and boosted and I wear a mask and stay out of large crowds.

 

[olympic]

Cohaix on GS just posted that per the attached article GPF will go forward in a bubble. Since I have no Japanese whatsoever, I’m taking Cohaix on faith but would welcome input from Japanese speakers here. ?

大阪でのフィギュアＧＰファイナル、開催に向け調整…バブル方式「準備進めていく」

【読売新聞】　スポーツ庁は２９日、大阪府門真市で１２月９日に開幕するフィギュアスケートの国際大会「グランプリファイナル」について、開催に向けて調整していく方針を明らかにした。 大会は選手らが外部との接触を避けるバブル方式で開催され、

www.yomiuri.co.jp

Thank you. I ran the whole article thru Google Translate and it appears the GPF will be operated like 2021 Worlds (?) I suppose bubble means no spectators?

 

[japanice]

Thank you. I ran the whole article thru Google Translate and it appears the GPF will be operated like 2021 Worlds (?) I suppose bubble means no spectators?

Bubble is only referring to the skaters and people working closely with them at the event. Spectators will be allowed.

I am surprised that PM Kishida was so quick to decide stricter measures re C****.
I think he wants to demonstrate that he has more leadership on this matter than previous PMs.

JSF responded to a query by Japanese media as "we cannot answer anything at this moment."

ETA
Japanese skaters who train abroad may need to come home to prepare for Japanese Nationals asap; otherwise they may lose more practice time than before due to stricter quarantine rules.

 

[japanice]

You can bet your last money that the Grand Prix Final will be held as scheduled. Too many Japanese companies will incur significant losses if it is cancelled at this late date. The plan was already to hold it in a bubble. I expect foreign skaters, coaches, judges and officials to all be allowed in. The fact that several Japanese skaters are scheduled to compete is also significant.

Just like I said ...

 

[olympic]

Bubble is only referring to the skaters and people working closely with them at the event. Spectators will be allowed.

Thank you. Spectators will make it better, but I hope the event is conducted as safely as possible.

 

[rfisher]

I'll be charitable and assume you read my post in haste, or in exhaustion, or with wine, or some other factor, to produce this frankly baffling response.

. Bless your heart.

 

[Karen-W]

Like I said last night, Japan is basically back to the same travel restrictions they had imposed up until the early part of November. No reason to have thought then that this event wouldn't happen with the skaters & personnel in a strict bubble.

 

[canbelto]

I think almost 2 years into the pan de mic, we've seen that travel restrictions are spectacularly ineffective because by the time they're put in place the variants have already spread. Omicron is probably already in the US and Japan.

Idgi with travel restrictions. We already know what works: test, test, test. Mask, mask, mask. Vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate. Quarantine travelers. Create bubbles for specific events to keep the participants safe.

 

[Tavi]

Oops. Per Phil Hersh, there seems to be some confusion as to whether the news article I just posted (ie that the GPF is going forward) was published before the ISU said it was still awaiting info from Japan on status of GPF. That is, nothing is official yet on JSF website. Hopefully we’ll find out tomorrow.

 

[Karen-W]

Oops. Per Phil Hersh, there seems to be some confusion as to whether the news article I just posted (ie that the GPF is going forward) was published before the ISU said it was still awaiting info from Japan on status of GPF. That is, nothing is official yet on JSF website. Hopefully we’ll find out tomorrow.

The news article is clearly date stamped 11/30/21 7:31am. Given that it is currently the dead of night in Lausanne, I'm sure no one at ISU headquarters has been able to respond to Phil to confirm anything that has been determined in the last 7-8 hours. You're right, hopefully we'll get some official confirmation sometime in the next 8-12 hours.

 

[Orm Irian]

I think almost 2 years into the pan de mic, we've seen that travel restrictions are spectacularly ineffective because by the time they're put in place the variants have already spread. Omicron is probably already in the US and Japan.

Idgi with travel restrictions. We already know what works: test, test, test. Mask, mask, mask. Vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate. Quarantine travelers. Create bubbles for specific events to keep the participants safe.

Travel restrictions can work in specific contexts, and can be useful when applied as part of a range of strategies to suppress or manage transmission (hello, my state!), but on their own they're absolutely a case of shutting the stable door after the colt from Old Regret has long since got away and joined the wild bush horses. Quarantine conducted in proper air-gapped facilities for long enough to cover the standard period of infectiousness and then some over for safety's sake would by and large be a preferable way to deal with necessary travel.

 

[Tavi]

The news article is clearly date stamped 11/30/21 7:31am. Given that it is currently the dead of night in Lausanne, I'm sure no one at ISU headquarters has been able to respond to Phil to confirm anything that has been determined in the last 7-8 hours. You're right, hopefully we'll get some official confirmation sometime in the next 8-12 hours.

Yes. Although if it’s true that there’s nothing official on the JSF website yet (not something I personally can verify) that could be a sign it’s not final yet (it’s close to 11:00 am there).

 

[overedge]

We already know what works: test, test, test. Mask, mask, mask. Vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate. Quarantine travelers. Create bubbles for specific events to keep the participants safe.

But not forgetting that because of the limited air circulation and lower temperature that's needed to maintain the ice surface, ***** may be more easily transmissable in indoor ice rinks than in other settings. https://ysph.yale.edu/community-edu...ports/risks-associated-with-indoor-ice-rinks/

 

[Alilou]

Travel restrictions can work in specific contexts, and can be useful when applied as part of a range of strategies to suppress or manage transmission (hello, my state!), but on their own they're absolutely a case of shutting the stable door after the colt from Old Regret has long since got away and joined the wild bush horses. Quarantine conducted in proper air-gapped facilities for long enough to cover the standard period of infectiousness and then some over for safety's sake would by and large be a preferable way to deal with necessary travel.

He was worth a thousand pounds, so all the cracks had gathered to the fray. ? Thank you for this reminder from home! ? OMG I can still quote most of it.

 

[Lanie]

They will never stop. Knee-jerk hysteria is de rigeur now.

 

[MacMadame]

It is way too early to claim it is a milder form.

I said IF it's a milder form. Viruses usually get milder over time so even if this one isn't milder, one of them will be.

But not forgetting that because of the limited air circulation and lower temperature that's needed to maintain the ice surface, ***** may be more easily transmissable in indoor ice rinks than in other settings. https://ysph.yale.edu/community-edu...ports/risks-associated-with-indoor-ice-rinks/

An arena is not an ice rink.

 

[Prancer]

Once more with feeling--we have an entire forum where people can talk about COVID-related politics and policies to their hearts' content. Please take that kind of discussion there.

 

[missing]

Philip Hersh has announced that there is nothing to announce:
Philip Hersh
@olyphil
·
48m

Just got a message from ISU spokesperson saying there is no update on the status of the Grand Prix Finals, scheduled for next week in Osaka, Japan, after the country has stopped allowing foreign nationals entry in light of new Covid variant

 

[sk9tingfan]

But not forgetting that because of the limited air circulation and lower temperature that's needed to maintain the ice surface, ***** may be more easily transmissable in indoor ice rinks than in other settings. https://ysph.yale.edu/community-edu...ports/risks-associated-with-indoor-ice-rinks/

Thank you for finding this. My oncologist, a Yale physician pointed this out to me, making my decision to not attend Nationals. Given the appearance of the new variant, I'm doubly glad I made that decision.

 

[TinLizzie]

Japan Skating Federation has said the Grand Prix Final will be held in a strict bubble. Yay!

 

[YukiNieve]

Japan Skating Federation has said the Grand Prix Final will be held in a strict bubble. Yay!

What is your source? Internal? The only article I was able to find came out chronologically before Hersh's tweet. It might well be still in the process of negotiation to see if and how it can be done among those concerned.

 

[YukiNieve]

On Wednesday Japan's MLITT (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport & Tourism) ordered airline companies to stop taking new reservations for all incoming flights to Japan until the end of December as an emergency measure, which makes even Japanese people unable to fly back to Japan until next year. I hope that skaters who train abroad had already made arrangements to come home to be in time for the Japanese Nationals.

Source (in Japanese)

 

[Frau Muller]

On Wednesday MLITT (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport & Tourism) ordered airline companies to stop taking new reservations for all incoming flights to Japan until the end of December as an emergency measure, which makes even Japanese people unable to fly back to Japan until next year. I hope that skaters who train abroad had already made arrangements to come home to be in time for the Japanese Nationals.

Source (in Japanese)

Eteri can use Trans-Siberian rail and a high-speed boat to get Russians to Osaka on time! Or just charter a special Aeroflot…bypassing reservations on a normal commercial flight.

 

[Carolla5501]

Yep, and another knee-jerk reaction called after the cow has escaped the barn we’re going to close the door. politicians all over the world are closing their borders because that always works. LOL. ( it only worked if you did it the way Australia did and we missed that window)


But I expect this event to be cancelled

 

[Sylvia]

ＧＰファイナル２日にも開催可否「オミクロン株」対策で流動的　フィギュア - フィギュア : 日刊スポーツ

新型コロナウイルスの変異株「オミクロン株」対策で流動的になっているフィギュアスケートのグランプリ（GP）ファイナル（9～12日、大阪・東和薬品ラクタブドーム）… - 日刊スポーツ新聞社のニュースサイト、ニッカンスポーツ・コム（nikkansports.com）

www.nikkansports.com

Machine translation:

It is expected that the possibility of holding the Grand Prix of Figure Skating (GP) Final (9th to 12th, Osaka Towa Pharmaceutical RACTAB Dome), which has become fluid due to measures against the mutant strain "Omicron strain" of the new coronavirus, will be decided on the 2nd [December 2021].

On the 1st, an official of the Japan Skating Federation, who is in charge, said, "I think it will be decided tomorrow." The government has set immigration restrictions for foreigners worldwide, and the federation is continuously discussing with the Japan Sports Agency whether individual special measures will be granted.

 

[deegee]

Yep, and another knee-jerk reaction called after the cow has escaped the barn we’re going to close the door. politicians all over the world are closing their borders because that always works. LOL. ( it only worked if you did it the way Australia did and we missed that window)


But I expect this event to be cancelled

dang.

i've been so ready for the re-match btw p/c and s/k ?

 

[PRlady]

I’m so torn on this. On the one hand I think we have to find ways to get as close to normal as possible and sport and entertainment is part of that. On the other some of the skaters slated for Japan are too young to be vaccinated by their own country’s protocols and we know that young skaters have gotten long Cooovid and lost significant time in their lives.

My mom died of the crud a year ago today at age 94. It was not an easy death. I would rather not read in this thread political prescriptions about “hysteria” and such.

 

[aka_gerbil]

I think the writing is on the wall. I just wish they’d stop dragging it out so the skaters who were supposed to participate can regroup and focus on their respective nationals.

 

[screech]

It would suck if it were cancelled; however with the Olympics just a couple months away, it makes sense to not risk it. Allow skaters to remain in their home countries for nationals, with no international travel until the Olympics. It won't be perfect, but it will help minimize the risks a little bit.

 

[MacMadame]

It would suck if it were cancelled; however with the Olympics just a couple months away, it makes sense to not risk it. Allow skaters to remain in their home countries for nationals, with no international travel until the Olympics. It won't be perfect, but it will help minimize the risks a little bit.

That would mean canceling 4CCs and Euros as well.

It seems like an over-reaction to me. We don't even know much about this variant but we will know more shortly so why talk about canceling things months in advance?