Dr. Mike Wilkinson is the chief medical officer of the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian rowing team.

In his COC role, which he began before the Pan Am Games in Peru in July 2019, he is responsible for providing Canadian Olympic athletes, coaches and support staff with advice about sports-related injuries, mental health and potential risks at international competitions.

Dr. Wilkinson, who was a Vancouver Canucks team doctor from 1999-2016 and was the director of medical services for the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, has been spending time lately trying to determine if it will be safe for Canadian athletes to travel to Japan to compete in the Summer Games in Tokyo, which are scheduled to begin July 22.

TSN interviewed Dr. Wilkinson on Mar. 16. His interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

How are you learning about the day-to-day, hour-to-hour, developments with coronavirus?

It's a combination of things. I’m looking at [medical] journals, looking at some of pre-release publications and stuff coming out on epidemiology. I’ve been on a number of calls with the World Health Organization, with Canadian experts and Public Health Canada and with the sports medicine advisory group, which is made up of the chief medical officers for all of the Canadian sports institutes.

People in your profession are probably used to keeping their cool when things get difficult. Could you walk me through whether you have noticed a change in tone as the number of infections has exponentially grown around the globe?

I think there's a very real level of concern. I think, you know, in Canada we've been able to see what's happened in China and in Europe and that has given us the opportunity to prepare. The concern is that people do not prepare enough and don't heed the warnings. As you've heard the term, the flattening of the curve, I think that is one of the concerns. Certainly, in Vancouver, where I work, the plan is to free up as many of resources as possible in preparation. 

You must be getting a lot of questions about whether the Olympics at this point will even happen. What do you tell people?

I get that I get asked that all the time. In the latest meetings I've had with the IOC, which included the World Health Organization, the plan is still to prepare for the 24th of July. [Dr. Wilkinson said that meeting took place via teleconference on Mar. 15.] The biggest impact at this stage is the cancelation of test event and qualifying events, which is impacting athletes in their preparation to try and actually get to Tokyo.

We’ve been told that this is a virus that seems to be attacking and having the most impact on our elderly. But in recent days there are reports out of France and Holland that half of the people who are in hospital in critical care are under the age of 50. Does that speak to how little we really know about this virus and how some things that we might believe we know about this virus can change as we learn more about it?

Obviously, this virus is new, and we don't know everything about it. We learn by the hour, let alone by the day. There is some evidence that it causes some cardiac issues. There's also some preliminary data about anti-inflammatories possibly having an impact. Obviously, you've read about the co-morbidities, principally have pre-existing lung disease, cardiac disease, etc. We don't know the full story.

Do you have a sense today whether an indoor event would be more dangerous than those outdoors? 

It depends on the proximity of the people in the arena. It depends on airflow; it depends on the ages of the participants and depends on the distance between participants. All of those are factors.

I've talked with some infectious disease experts who suggest sporting events are the perfect way to spread an illness like this because people are so close together, sitting in the stands, walking to bathrooms, climbing over each other to get to their seats, yelling and cheering. Is that a fair concern?

Any time you have a large group of people together in close confines it increases risk, which is why there is such an emphasis on the moment on social distancing and working from homes and at home as much as you can.

How concerned are you about the mental health of athletes? Some must be feeling anxious, working towards this lifelong dream which now hangs in the balance.

We have mental health professionals, mental health counsellors and performance consultants that work with athletes on a regular basis and have been doing so for years. They're a very integral part of the Canadian Olympic team and all the national federation teams in preparation. So, we work with them. We have guidelines and support for athletes and federations. And yes, it is a very important aspect in not only their preparation, but in how one manages and deals with the unknown… I think the athletes are focused on training at the moment and this is an added stress and an added unknown.

What's the likelihood that, if the Olympics do go ahead, it would not be with fans in arenas and stadiums?

I can't answer that one, I don't know.

What if the IOC decides to proceed with the Games and you aren’t confident in that decision? You're responsible ultimately for the safety of the Canadian competitors and coaches, yes?

Yes. That's why I'm in this position… I've talked to Canadian athletes who did not go to the 1980 games. It's a very tough decision. Any time that you do not go to a Games, that opportunity is taken away from athletes… It’s not something you take lightly, but it is something we will look at very carefully. Ultimately, if the safety of the athletes was not in keeping with what we are trying to do then we would have to make that hard decision.