For this historical organization of the UCI Road World Championships in Imola, Emilia-Romagna the Local Organizing Committee has involved the Emilia-Romagna Region and the regional health service so that the event can take place while safeguarding everybody’s health.
From Monday 21 September through Thursday 24 September there will be a “drive through” mobile laboratory, to offer both athletes and staff members of the foreign national teams coming to Imola the possibility to take the PCR test (nasal or throat swab), so that the necessary samples can be collected to carry out the tests three days before each race, as required by UCI protocols in order to preserve the so called “bubble” protection system, and guarantee that the Worlds are taking place safely.
The Emilia-Romagna Regional division for health matters has implemented a mandatory test program which is meant to be a major safety measure for all athletes and for the event. Thus the competitors will be spared from having to rely on any of the labs located in the central-northern part of Italy to take the necessary swab tests thanks to the ad hoc mobile facility that will avoid burdening the public health system. The tests will be carried out in the Modena headquarters of the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell’Emilia-Romagna, which is able to process the number of tests required by the Worlds (and issue the results within 36 hours) without imposing on the testing facilities that are supposed to be for the region’s population.
This is a true race within a race: thanks to the Organizing Committee’s and the Emilia-Romagna Region’s commitment that made it possible to set up a safety system that is adequate for these times and the protocols, on an area of approximately 1,000 square metres that was made available by the Allestimenti e Pubblicità company of Imola. This goes to prove that when organizers and institutions have the right expertise and efficiency it is possible to organize major international events without overlooking the health safety issue.
