Efficacy of Health Surveillance and Polymerase Chain Reaction Testing in Judo During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated infection control for all sporting activities. More careful infection control measures are required in judo, where close contact with opponents cannot be avoided. The Medical Science Committee of the All Japan Judo Federation (AJJF) established infection control guidelines for daily practice and competitions. Infection control measures were also implemented at the national tournament organized by the AJJF. Objective and methods This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of pre-tournament health surveys and PCR testing in guidelines for judo tournaments. Participants had to complete a health survey one to two weeks before the tournament. Initially, PCR testing was performed on all athletes; however, the final policy was to conduct PCR testing only on athletes with an infected person (risk team testing method). The effectiveness of these methods was also examined. Results In 16 competitions between October 2020 and March 2023, 6980 contestants were registered, and PCR testing was performed on 3672 athletes; 29 (0.79%) had a positive PCR test. Only two contestants were unable to attend the tournament because of the health survey. No competition-related cluster outbreaks were observed. From May 2022, the competition was held under the guideline that only teams at risk of infection were tested and could only compete when they tested negative. No teams were tested according to this guideline. In the competitions organized within this guideline, only one person could not compete because of the information provided in the health survey. No clusters were observed in any of the competitions. The incidence of COVID-19 infection in the first week after the convention was 20 (0.60%) in testing only at-risk teams and 21 (0.57%) in testing all competitors, which was not significantly different.(p=0.62) Conclusion During the COVID-19 epidemic, health surveillance was necessary to prevent the registration of competitors at risk of infection prior to tournaments. If teams at risk of infection could be identified, PCR testing of all athletes might not be mandatory, and competitions could be organized safely. The Judo infectious disease control guidelines we have developed might be used for other contact sports in the future when other infectious diseases are prevalent.