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The International 10, this year's highly anticipated edition of the annual premiere Dota 2 tournament, is only a week away.
However, the pandemic has managed to strike a tone of anxiety in the community again, as three Dota 2 players from the Team Aster squad have tested positive for COVID-19. A Weibo post from Team Aster has officially confirmed that "Monet" Du Peng, Lin "xxs" Jing, and Ye "Borax" Zhibiao, a.k.a. BoBoKa are COVID-positive.
With their Dota 2 squad exposed to COVID-19, will Team Aster be able to participate in TI?
The official statement from Team Aster also went on to confirm that their Dota 2 coach and stand-in, Cheng "Mad" Han also tested positive, as did another person from their video staff. Yesterday, this was cause for much alarm in the community. Four other Chinese Dota 2 teams are also residing in the same hotel as Aster's COVID-stricken roster, and they have a shared air-conditioning system.
Afterwards, it was confirmed that the Dota 2 talents and staff from Invictus Gaming, Vici Gaming, and Elephant have all tested negative, while PSG.LGD are still awaiting results.
Aster captain Zhang "LanM" Zhincheng has reportedly expressed concern over the lack of COVID-19 moderation. Most notably, there was no Valve-sponsored routine testing upon the teams' arrival in Bucharest. Money, xxs, and Borax themselves took the incentive to get tested once they started feeling feverish.
After Valve's plans to host the tournament in Sweden was untimely curtailed, they had to postpone it by two months and arrange a short-order venue in Bucharest. After much trial and tribulation over pandemic-induced travel restrictions, all the pro players are finally in the Romanian capital.
The relative laxity in COVID restrictions was also one of the reasons Valve could get TI relocated to Bucharest in such short notice.
As things stand now, the COVID-positive Dota 2 talent are either 'mildly ill' or 'asymptomatic' according to a public statement from Team Aster. The group stages of the TI kick off on October 7 and the teams could be allowed to play remotely from their hotel.
In the event that Team Aster makes it to the playoffs, the players might be able to join the TI stage in earnest if they recover and test negative.
