SO, COVID started innocuously by causing the appointment of a COVID liaison officer (CLO) — Elaine Hayden.

Elaine was on top of all the requirements set out, so the job as COVID liaison shouldn’t have been a problem.

How wrong we were!!!

We had to prepare an activity schedule for every member of the delegation and submit the schedule 30 days before the individuals were expected to arrive in Tokyo.

The activity schedule must detail where the individuals will be, every day for 14 days after entry into Tokyo. Travel is only allowed to permitted destinations, eg airport, training centres, competition venues. The travel itinerary for each member was also required.

If your country isn’t in category one or two (like Jamaica) the members of the delegation must take two nasal PCR tests — 96 hours and up to 72 hours, respectively — before departure. And I repeat: Jamaica is not in category one or two.

The delegation members living in or who have spent time in countries in category one or two (eg Great Britain) had to take daily covid PCR tests up to seven days before departure. Fortunately, transiting through the country would not cause someone to end up in this category.

Delegation members were required to download and install the online check-in and health report app ( OCHA). Once installed, the individual was expected to upload daily temperature 14 days before, and every day after arriving in Tokyo.

Delegation members were required to download the COVID-19 Contact-Confirming Application (COCOA). This app uses bluetooth technology to determine close contact — defined as a person within 1 metre and spending more than 15 minutes with the holder of the smartphone. The app anonymously tracks the close contacts and sends an alert if someone tests positive. All information gathered would be automatically deleted after 14 days.

So let’s now put the above into perspective. The majority the delegation’s composition was unknown 30 days before departure to Tokyo. The athletes were all over the globe and it was difficult to determine where most would fly from to get to Tokyo, which made the task even more complicated. However, the management team, with the assistance of each federation, was able to navigate these challenges and thus far has been compliant with all the requirements set out by the local organising committee and the International Olympic Commitee. Our final delegation now consists of over 100 people.

The Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) has thus far spent in excess of $90 million on the Olympic Games to include direct expenses associated with attending the Games such as airfare, accommodation, per diem and ground transportation. There have also been indirect expenses which included costs associated with our members attending Olympic qualification events during the year. The IOC has provided financial support specific for the Olympic Games in the amount of $42 million.

So, we coordinated all of the above and voila!! We made the deadline.

We tamed COVID! Or did we?