Sideline is a column from CGTN's Social Media Desk
广场舞曲响起的时候，北京的夜晚似乎又活泼了一点，疫情的灰又淡了一点。
爷爷奶奶们的舞姿还是那么契合“拳打卧牛之地”的道理，彼此间的距离即保持着美学上的齐整，也起到了一点防疫效果。收敛的步点与奔放的歌词形成了反差萌。口罩绕在胳膊或下巴上，是疫情退却的痕。
新发地的疫情一度凝固了北京的仲夏。大众体育或重开Solo模式，或崇尚距离产生美：乒乓球不如羽毛球，羽毛球不如网球。七月流火，足篮排等等群众喜闻乐见的集体项目才算和广场舞一起妥妥复归。除非要求隔离14天后提交核酸检测才能下场，口罩、二维码和体温枪这些小日常在压抑了半年的运动热情面前不值一哂。
Dancing grannies have made a comeback to Beijing's squares.
The "square dancers," mostly elderly women in groups of 10 to 20, are known to take over public spaces in China, moving their bodies rhythmically and in unison to music blasting from loudspeakers. After taking a break during COVID-19, they're back to delight, and in some cases disturbing, the public, this time around with masks covering their faces.
If their exercise strictly qualifies as dance remains debatable, but it has livened up Beijing streets after sunset despite the epidemic continuing to prey on people's minds.
Group sports have returned to Beijing with a few post-epidemic modifications after the most recent flare-up that took place at a wholesale market in June. Body temperature checks before entering fenced facilities remain mandatory. Checkpoints are still in operation asking people to scan a QR code to access a health code app and show proof that they have not crossed paths with infected people.
When it comes to necessary daily items, face masks are only second to smartphones in China. Although not the overwhelming majority, many still choose to wear masks during a workout. The precautions may sound troublesome, but at least people can enjoy team sports without sitting through 14 days of quarantine or having their throats swabbed for sample-taking for testing.
生活在“泡泡”（Bubble）里的职业运动员，需要继续忍受的繁琐会多一些。全球各大商业赛事能陆续重开，也是托了“泡泡”的福——赛期内相关人员活动全封闭管理，核酸检测是家常便饭，只要离开封闭区，返回就要面临隔离观察——仿佛被包裹在“泡泡 ”里。满足了群众的娱乐需求，帮助选手养家糊口，避免赞助商的钱打水漂，“泡泡”善莫大焉。
CBA是最早“吹泡泡”的联赛之一。趁着国内疫情形势整体趋稳，2019-2020赛季平安度过。严防死守时的风声鹤唳短暂化为赛后的燕舞莺歌。
美国的疫情防控逼得美职篮在奥兰多迪士尼“吹”了一个一亿五千万美元的“泡泡”。好在一分钱一分货，从六月底至今并未“漏气”。遗憾的是，“泡泡”内外的世界依然大相径庭。
Professional sportspeople may not be spared these troubles anytime soon, especially in their respective "bubbles" – Tightly-controlled zones established for players and staff taking part in a championship where frequent testing and movement restrictions aim to keep the new coronavirus at bay.
The system has worked well so far wherever it's been introduced. The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) managed to conclude what's left of its 2019-2020 tournament within a bubble in east China's Qingdao in August and is now planning to start the new season with a few enhancements.
The bubble's success is more spectacular in the U.S than in China, largely because of the former's failure to contain the pandemic on its soil. The National Basketball Association (NBA) has spent 150 million U.S. dollars to set up its bubble at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. No positive test results have been reported inside the bubble since July 30, in stark contrast to what is happening outside the walls of the fairyland.
Managing a bubble for an international tournament could be trickier with participants flocking from all over the world, but the protocol is roughly the same: quarantine and test everyone before and as the games happen.
把大型国际赛事裹在“泡泡”里更难。选手来自世界各地，防疫战线和周期更长。在被疫情攻陷的纽约，美国网球公开赛做了一场有惊无险的试验：八月底开始的两周时间里，包括选手团队、工作人员在内的近千人只在驻地和球场之间两点一线。但组委会的体贴并未打消所有人的疑虑，纳达尔就没来。
疫情飘忽不定的时候办奥运更是难上加难。明年的东京要建多少个“泡泡”才够？核酸检测、核酸检测、核酸检测，东京奥组委一直三遍三遍地强调：各国运动员启程前要测，入境前要测，入馆前还要测。
想想运动员赛场上奋力搏杀之后顾不上擦汗先要戴口罩的尴尬，广场舞的闲适更显得来之不易——置一城甚至一国于“泡泡”之中。和慢三步的舞姿不同，防疫“武功”，唯快不破。新发地疫情之后，追踪、隔离、检测迅速展开，三百万人受测保全城无恙。中国各地经济水平并不均衡，大规模调集资源快速将疫情就地消灭才能避免陷入全面苦战。对比北京和纽约，再审视自己当下的疫情发展，东京应该深知其中利害。
“泡泡”是没有疫苗和特效药时的权宜之计 。规模越大，漏洞可能越多，往往还是针大的洞，斗大的风。如何办好这样一届特殊的奥运会，东京奥组委怕是要在钢丝上舞蹈了。
The U.S. Open proved this possible with nearly a thousand players, coaches, physiotherapists and officials descending on New York, one of the hardest-hit megacities during the pandemic. Several parts of hotels housing the personnel were closed off with shuttle buses carrying them between their temporary residences and the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. But health concerns lingered and dulled the game. In fact, both the women's and men's defending champions decided to skip the event.
With an Olympic tournament, it's a completely different story. Imagine how many areas Tokyo needs to seal off during the 2021 Olympics. How long it'll take Japan to contain domestic infections is another complicating factor. The Tokyo Organizing Committee seems to have settled on pre-game testing, requiring athletes to provide negative results within 72 hours of leaving for Japan, in addition to results conducted upon entering the country and other Olympic facilities. The timing and frequency have yet to be decided.
For Tokyo, some of Beijing's lessons may be helpful. The square dancers can feel safe enough exercising in groups again because their city is "bubble-wrapped" against the coronavirus. Quarantines and tests remain key to achieving that, but Beijing has learned that measures have to be scaled up and sped up right from the beginning: rapid and stringent lockdowns where new cases are detected, mass testings with fast results and relentless contact tracing. In about two weeks following the June flare-up, Beijing had tested nearly three million people. Underlying these operations is a quick concentration of resources to stamp out outbreaks before they spin out of control.
Without an effective treatment or vaccine against COVID-19, sporting events will have to make do with bubbles for a while longer. And a bubble is only as impenetrable as its weakest link. The larger the zone, the likelier the holes.
In case of a positive test at the door or, worse, from inside the Olympic bubble, the organizers, as well as government officials, must act swiftly, before the virus leads them a merry old dance.
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