Stenbock House, 6 August 2020 – The government discussed measures that will allow WRC Rally Estonia on 4–6 September as well as the Ironman international competition on 5 September to be held.
The Minister of Culture Tõnis Lukas stated that in order to successfully and safely organise major competitions, it is crucial to implement appropriate measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“The alternative measures for preventing the risk of infection approved at the cabinet meeting concern in particular the monitoring of the risk of infection, but also the minimal exposure of athletes and their teams to the local population. Our goal is to ensure the safety of both the local population and athletes,” said Tõnis Lukas.
The following measures were introduced:
• Top athletes, supporting staff, and organisers involved in the WRC rally who arrive in Estonia from countries with an infection rate higher than 16 must take a COVID-19 test by PCR method up to 72 hours before leaving their country of residence or home country and have a written certificate confirming a negative test result in English.
• Upon arrival in Estonia, all participants in the competition, regardless of the infection rate of the country of origin, must take a COVID-19 test by PCR method within 24 hours at the latest and meet the requirements of self-isolation until the test results are available and do so with the help and coordination of the competition organiser.
• Upon receiving a negative test result, the accreditation of the competition will be issued and the persons may start the activities related to the competition.
• While in Estonia, all foreign guests, including the organisers, must monitor their health every day and commit to being ready to participate in random checks, e.g. measuring body temperature, testing, etc.
• While in Estonia, they must stay in so-called “competition isolation”, which means that they can only engage in activities related to the competition and avoid all non-competition contacts. For example, using public transportation and moving in crowded places is not allowed, it is only permitted to move around in competition areas, etc.
• Only the so-called “green country competitors” can take part in the Ironman competition, with the exception of the elite class athletes of the 70.3 distance and their support staff, a total of about 60 people who also have to take additional confidence measures.
In addition, the organisers of the competitions have established several rules of their own in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 at these competitions and in Estonia, which will be updated as necessary on an ongoing basis according to the spread of the virus.
The government and the event organisers are constantly monitoring the spread of the virus in Estonia and in the world in general and, based on this, will operatively make decisions related to the competitions and audience access.