Australian alpine skier Katie Parker has tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival in Beijing.
The 23-year-old — who is set to make her Olympic debut – missed the giant slalom on Monday after returning "ongoing" positive COVID-19 tests since catching coronavirus in late January.
She since returned four negative test results in America and hoped to arrive in time to compete in Wednesday's slalom.
However, due to the increased sensitivity of the testing being used by local authorities and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Parker tested positive and has had to go into isolation.
After someone tests positive at the Games, a second confirmatory test is undertaken and a third, additional test to confirm the Ct (cycle threshold) values.
The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) said the results of those tests will be known in the morning.
Positive test was a 'reasonable probability'
The AOC's chief medical officer Peter Braun told the ABC on Monday that there was a "reasonable probability" Parker would test positive and the AOC had already been making arrangements to ensure the process to involve the IOC's medical expert committee took place as quickly as possible.
Lipshutt said the experience the Australian team has had with the medical expert panel (MEP) would stand them in good stead to ensure things moved quickly once the results of Parker's second and third tests were known.
He said Parker had been brought to Zhangjiakou where the AOC would be able to undertake its own testing to ensure it had the best possible case to present to the MEP.
Chief medical officer Peter Braun told the ABC on Monday that he was glad the Australian team had taken the option to bring its own PCR testing machine to Beijing.
"We have had the benefit of dealing with the Medical Expert Panel and the Public Health System with our previous experience with Tahli Gill," Lipshutt said.
"We had a good outcome [then].
The AOC is yet to have any of its members or staff enter isolation at these Games, although did come close with curler Tahli Gill.
Gill tested positive on arrival and then later in the Games, and she was initially banned from playing her final two matches of the round robin phase.
The AOC medical staff — including an infectious disease expert — were able to prove that she was not infectious and Gill was permitted to play, with Australia winning both matches to end their Games on a high.
Lipshutt said that positive experience had not been replicated elsewhere but was just a fact of life in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
"In terms of the pandemic, it exists and we have to manage," LIpshutt said on Monday.
"I know some of the other Olympic committees, some of the other Olympic teams, haven't had the same experience as us [with testing and the Medical Expert Panel].
Lipshutt said that throughout the entire process, Parker would be fully informed and looked after.
"Our focus is ensuring she is well looked after. We have brought Katie to Zhangjiakou so we can do our own testing and get a clear picture of what her situation is. We will be keeping her and her support network fully informed," he said.
