CALGARY -- John Morris is getting ready to enter the Tim Horton's Brier curling bubble, with the first draw scheduled for 6:30 on Friday night. But before he does that, Morris needs to get a COVID-19 test from DynaLIFE.
Morris, who is playing second for Kevin Koe's Wild Card rink said in an interview with CTV News that the tests were a minor inconvenience if it meant being able to get back on the ice, in the Brier no less.
"We're really excited to get at it," Morris said. "It's going to be tough living in a hotel solo and away from the family but it's what we've got to do and we're chomping at the bit to get at it."
DynaLIFE, in conjunction with the Canadian Sport Institute Calgary and Curling Canada will do over 2,000 tests for all of the upcoming curling bubble events at WinSport.
Canadian Sport Institute stakeholder director Cara Button said it's been a busy place with constant tests going on.
"That's with the athletes, the ice makers, the team managers and the broadcast crew," Button said. "It's a lot of people and a lot of tests."
SCOTTIES A SUCCESS
The Scotties Tournament of Hearts just wrapped up on the weekend and that event went without a hitch. There were no positive tests.
That gave Morris some confidence and he believes the Brier can be just as successful.
"I'm sure that there was some high stress for that first event because obviously if that doesn't run smoothly it would've really thrown everything out of whack," Morris said.
"The ladies did a fantastic job. You know they were kind of guinea pigs which is unfortunate but it definitely went over well. It went over smoothly."
CONSEQUENCES
Of course it's not just testing that keeps the bubble safe. Participants are basically allowed to go to their hotel room, to the curling rink and back.
Button said everyone has to follow very strict guidelines or it won't work.
"They do daily screening twice a day that they have to complete. Plus they're not allowed to mix in each other's rooms. They have to be very careful in the hotels keeping their social distance from each other," Button said.
"There's so many rules it's not even funny but it's important to keep the bubble safe. So everybody realizes that consequences for not doing that are pretty high."
Pretty high indeed. Any participant who breaks any of the rules is automatically out of the bubble - and ineligible to compete in the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Morris by the way is playing second for Team Koe. They'll take on Nova Scotia in the opening draw on Friday night.
