Paris Olympics: Officials play down Covid fears after water polo players test positive

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

 

Jul 23, 2024

 

PARIS - French and Australian officials on Tuesday played down the risk of a COVID cluster at the Paris Olympics after the Australia team was the first to report that one of its athletes, a water polo player, had tested positive and been isolated.

 

Paris 2024 is meant to be the first post-pandemic summer Olympics, after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, postponed by a year due to COVID, were held largely without spectators. "I need to emphasise that we are treating COVID no differently to other bugs like the flu. This is not Tokyo," Australia's Olympic team chief Anna Meares told a press conference.

 

Meares said the athlete's teammates would wear masks and adhere to social distancing measures. All close contacts were tested. ... A second Australia player, who was a close contact, later tested positive as well, the Australian Olympic Committee said, but no other athletes in the country's team have been diagnosed with COVID.

 

(more)

 

https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/australian-water-polo-player-isolated-with-covid-team-chief-says

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Update:

 

 

Paris 2024 Olympics: Five Australian water polo players test positive for COVID-19

 

24 July 2024

 

Five players of the Australian women's water polo team have tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics, which officially gets underway on Friday.

 

“There have been five athletes in total who have tested positive,” Australian chef de mission Anna Meares confirmed on Wednesday during a press conference.

 

Meares added that the cases were confined to the Aussie Stingers and the players will be allowed to practice with protocols in place.

 

(more)

 

https://olympics.com/en/news/paris-2024-olympics-australia-water-polo-team-covid-19-five-players

 

 

 

Edited July 26 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2024 Paris Olympics hit by early COVID cases, but organizers don't seem worried by risk of major outbreak

July 24, 2024

...

Given the pre-opening ceremony cases and the recent history at the Tour de France, the focus has turned sharply toward the fast-approaching Games.

 

Some 10,500 athletes are due in the French capital, and organizers know that along with the spirit of sportsmanship, they bring with them the potential for a major outbreak in the Olympic Village, which will be home to more than 14,000 athletes and accompanying team members.

 

But organizers appear relatively unfazed.

 

"For now, nothing has been put into place by the organizing committee," André-Pierre Goubert, the director of Olympics and high performance sport at the National French Olympic and Sport Committee (CNOSF), recently told the French newspaper Le Monde. "We recommended that the delegations test their athletes before coming to the Olympic Village, using their own medical teams."

 

(more)

 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/2024-paris-olympics-covid-cases-organizers-seem-unfazed-outbreak-risk/

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

France sees no Olympic spike in COVID cases: minister

July 25, 2024

 

There has been no spike in COVID cases in France as tourists surge in for the Paris Olympic Games, a minister said Thursday, adding that the government would remain "vigilant".

 

"COVID is still with us at a low level" but "we're not in a period with an explosion or strong return" of the virus, junior health minister Frederic Valletoux told broadcaster Franceinfo.

 

He added that authorities were not "for now" expecting to introduce mask requirements in venues.

 

(more)

 

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-07-france-olympic-spike-covid-cases.html

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

At least based on public data tracking sites like Our World in Data and Worldometer, France stopped regularly publicly reporting its COVID case and COVID death counts back in June 2023. France's cumulative totals in both of those categories have remained mostly unchanged since mid-last year.

 

Daily Cases Source: Our World in Data

 

Cumulative Cases Source: Our World in Data

 

Cumulative Deaths Source: Our World in Data

 

 

WHO cumulative data for France's reported COVID cases and deaths:

 

39 million COVID cases and 168,091 official COVID deaths since the start of the pandemic.

 

https://data.who.int/dashboards/covid19/cases?n=c&m49=250

https://data.who.int/dashboards/covid19/deaths?n=c&m49=250

 

 

Edited July 26 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[nakhonandy]

Probably because next to nobody in Europe cares about covid anymore, it's yesterday's news. 

[sirineou]

While in the US visiting, my daughter got covid, she had flu like symptoms for a few days after that she was fine. Even though I spend all that time with her and took care of her I did not get it.

  In any population a percentage of people will get it, so why not in the Olympic population? 

Follow standard procedures and I would not worry about it. 

[Amethyst]

A post with unsourced claims has been removed, per the forum's rules:

 

"In factual areas such as news forums and current affairs topics member content that is claimed or portrayed as a fact should be supported by a link to a relevant reputable source."

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

 

Is there a COVID outbreak at the Olympics? At least 10 athletes test positive in one week

At least ten athletes, including British swimmer Adam Peaty and Australian swimmer Lani Pallister, have tested positive for COVID-19. What safety protocols are at the Olympics?

 

Aug. 3, 2024

 

At least 10 athletes competing at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics — including swimmers from multiple countries and five Australian water polo players — have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last week. The uptick in cases has raised questions around the measures in place to stop the spread of COVID at the Olympics.

 

This year's Games are considered the first post-pandemic Olympics. Unlike the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, there are no strict protocols or restrictions around COVID-19 in Paris.

 

However, COVID-19 is still spreading around the world. The United States is facing a summer wave, and the virus is also spreading in Europe, including in the Olympic Village.

...

Have any Team USA Olympians gotten COVID?

Asked if any Team USA swimmers had tested positive for COVID, a USA Swimming spokesperson tells TODAY.com via email: "We don’t share athlete health information publicly."

 

(more)

 

https://www.today.com/health/coronavirus/covid-olympics-2024-rcna164070

 

 

Why Olympians Who Have COVID-19 Can Still Compete in Paris

August 1, 2024

...

the rules surrounding COVID-19—including vaccination recommendations, who gets tested, isolation procedures, and masking guidance—are very different at the Paris Games than they were during the Tokyo Olympics.   In Tokyo, in the summer of 2021, athletes—and the media who had contact with them in interview zones—were tested regularly. Anyone testing positive was immediately isolated and remained separated from others until they tested negative. While vaccination wasn’t mandated, most national Olympic sports organizations, including the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC), strongly recommended that athletes be up-to-date with their COVID-19 shot. Officials also conducted temperature checks for anyone entering any competition to monitor for fevers, one symptom of an infection. To further limit the possibility of an outbreak, no spectators were allowed at those Games.

 

In Paris, the fans are back, virtually none of them wearing masks, and there is no regular testing of athletes. A spokesperson for the USOPC said in emailed responses to questions from TIME that American athletes are generally tested only if they have symptoms such as a persistent cough, fever, or sore throat, or if they are just generally feel unwell, and COVID-19 is being treated like any other respiratory illness such as the cold or flu. That means there is no rule preventing athletes from training or competing, just as there isn’t anything from stopping someone with the sniffles or a stuffy nose.

 

To protect other Olympians, however, since athletes share rooms and countries occupy the same living space in the Olympic Village, if athletes test positive, they are generally moved to a single room to limit the chance of getting others sick. The USOPC is also arranging for separate transportation for them to and from practices and events and delivering their meals so they won’t need to be in the public dining hall. Medical clinics at the Olympics also have isolation rooms to accommodate people who test positive.

 

(more)

 

https://time.com/7006533/covid-19-athletes-paris-olympics/

 

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Olympics sees 40-plus Covid cases as global infections rise: WHO

August 6, 2024

 

More than 40 athletes at the Paris Olympics have tested positive for Covid-19, highlighting a new global rise in cases as vaccination coverage plunges, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.

 

The WHO said the virus behind the Covid-19 pandemic was still circulating -- and countries need to sharpen up their response systems and get jabbing those most at risk.

 

Several high profile athletes have suffered from Covid-19 at the 2024 Paris Games.

British swimmer Adam Peaty tested positive a day after winning silver in the 100m breaststroke when he had not felt well, his team said. Australian medal hope Lani Pallister pulled out of the women's 1500m freestyle after falling ill.

 

(more)

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/olympics-sees-40-plus-covid-121844322.html

 

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

 

Swimming-UK's Peaty back in action after worst of weeks with COVID

Updated Aug 03, 2024

 

PARIS - Adam Peaty returned to the Olympic pool on Saturday after what he described as the worst week of his life recovering from COVID.

 

The triple gold medallist, who went into isolation after taking silver in last Sunday's 100 metres breaststroke, helped Britain reach the final of the men's 4x100 medley relay at the La Defense Arena.

...

The 29-year-old said he got back in the pool on Wednesday night but was still not symptom-free and was now struggling with an ear infection.

 

"It's probably the worst week of my life in terms of how my body is, and that's no exaggeration," he said. "Everything's come at once. Since COVID, it's just every day waking up with a different thing."

 

(more)

 

https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/swimming-peaty-back-in-action-after-worst-of-weeks-with-covid

 

 

[KhunLA]

Just think if this was early 2020, they'd shut down the Olympics completely with the silly hysteria back then.  

 

2024, and nobody is falling for it any more, well, except 1 person ... 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

How quickly some forget... or at least try to...

 

"Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the [2020 Summer Olympics in Japan] event was postponed to 2021 on 24 March 2020 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic...

...

Public support for the Games in Japan decreased significantly amid a 2021 surge in COVID-19 cases in the country.^[58] Multiple organizations of medical professionals voiced oppositions to the Games,^[52][59][60] while an opinion poll in April 2021 saw 40% of participants support the cancellation of the Games, and 33% support a second postponement.^[61] In May 2021, 83% of those polled supported the cancellation or postponement of the Games.^[62] The Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association called for the cancellation, stating that hospitals in Tokyo "have their hands full and have almost no spare capacity" in an open letter to the prime minister.^[63]"

 

At the time, instead of canceling the games, the IOC and authorities in Japan ultimately agreed that all events in Tokyo were to be held behind closed doors with no spectators due to a new locally declared state of emergency at the time due to COVID. And international spectators were banned as well. The postponed Games ran from July 23 to August 8, 2021. And even so.....

 

"Once the Tokyo Olympics were underway, followed by the Tokyo Paralympics, there was a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases in Japan, especially those caused by the Delta variant. On 26 July, there were 60,157 cases detected in Japan, breaking the record of 44,961 cases recorded on 10 May. On 9 August, one day after the Olympics had ended, daily cases in Japan reached 100,000 for the first time, and new cases continued to increase until the peak on 23 August, when 156,931 cases were recorded.^[86]"

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Summer_Olympics

 

Current COVID hospitalizations in Japan just before the start of the delayed Olympics:

 

 

Current COVID hospitalizations in Japan several weeks after the conclusion of the delayed Olympics:

 

 

Source:

 

The number of hospitalized COVID patients in Japan almost tripled over that period, and that was with all the many restrictions that were imposed at the time, including  totally banning overseas spectators and holding no spectator events at Tokyo venues  in an effort to lessen the spread of the pandemic at the time.

 

At the start of the delayed Olympics, Japan had already recorded more than 15,000 COVID deaths since the start of of COVID in early 2020. And the COVID death toll only went up from there onward.

 

 

Source:

 

[stoner]

6 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

How quickly some forget... or at least try to...

 

"Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the [2020 Summer Olympics in Japan] event was postponed to 2021 on 24 March 2020 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic...

...

Public support for the Games in Japan decreased significantly amid a 2021 surge in COVID-19 cases in the country.^[58] Multiple organizations of medical professionals voiced oppositions to the Games,^[52][59][60] while an opinion poll in April 2021 saw 40% of participants support the cancellation of the Games, and 33% support a second postponement.^[61] In May 2021, 83% of those polled supported the cancellation or postponement of the Games.^[62] The Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association called for the cancellation, stating that hospitals in Tokyo "have their hands full and have almost no spare capacity" in an open letter to the prime minister.^[63]"

 

At the time, instead of canceling the games, the IOC and authorities in Japan ultimately agreed that all events in Tokyo were to be held behind closed doors with no spectators due to a new locally declared state of emergency at the time due to COVID. And international spectators were banned as well. The postponed Games ran from July 23 to August 8, 2021. And even so.....

 

"Once the Tokyo Olympics were underway, followed by the Tokyo Paralympics, there was a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases in Japan, especially those caused by the Delta variant. On 26 July, there were 60,157 cases detected in Japan, breaking the record of 44,961 cases recorded on 10 May. On 9 August, one day after the Olympics had ended, daily cases in Japan reached 100,000 for the first time, and new cases continued to increase until the peak on 23 August, when 156,931 cases were recorded.^[86]"

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Summer_Olympics

 

Current COVID hospitalizations in Japan just before the start of the delayed Olympics:

 

 

Current COVID hospitalizations in Japan several weeks after the conclusion of the delayed Olympics:

 

 

Source:

 

The number of hospitalized COVID patients in Japan almost tripled over that period, and that was with all the many restrictions that were imposed at the time, including  totally banning overseas spectators and holding no spectator events at Tokyo venues  in an effort to lessen the spread of the pandemic at the time.

 

At the start of the delayed Olympics, Japan had already recorded more than 15,000 COVID deaths since the start of of COVID in early 2020. And the COVID death toll only went up from there onward.

 

 

Source:

 

 

John it's not that they forget...they just don't care anymore. The covid was years ago now. People have moved on with life.

 

This forum has people from all over yet the threads on covid have all but died. 

 

Speaks volumes about how little people care now.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Hmm..  And yet here you are regularly reading and posting about COVID topics that you seem to be professing to not care about....

 

PS - COVID was NOT "years ago now" to the 400+ Americans who are dying every week from COVID right now, or the 200+ people in England likewise dying per week from COVID, or the thousands more in those places and elsewhere still being hospitalized from it.

 

Some people, including many here on the forum, want to put COVID out of sight and out of mind, wishing it to be only a bad memory. But the COVID virus has other plans on that score.

 

Are things better now than they were at the worst time of the pandemic? Absolutely yes.

 

Has life everywhere returned to normal where there's no reason to be concerned about COVID and its continuing impacts of deaths, hospitalizations, and long-term health problems from Long COVID? To anyone paying attention to the realities of things, absolutely no.

 

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

21 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Olympics sees 40-plus Covid cases as global infections rise: WHO

August 6, 2024

 

More than 40 athletes at the Paris Olympics have tested positive for Covid-19, highlighting a new global rise in cases as vaccination coverage plunges, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.

 

The WHO said the virus behind the Covid-19 pandemic was still circulating -- and countries need to sharpen up their response systems and get jabbing those most at risk.

 

Several high profile athletes have suffered from Covid-19 at the 2024 Paris Games.

British swimmer Adam Peaty tested positive a day after winning silver in the 100m breaststroke when he had not felt well, his team said. Australian medal hope Lani Pallister pulled out of the women's 1500m freestyle after falling ill.

 

(more)

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/olympics-sees-40-plus-covid-121844322.html

 

 

The WHO today revised their Olympics announcement from yesterday, saying that their 40+ Olympic athletes number involved athletes who had tested positive for COVID [added] or other respiratory illnesses."

 

Wednesday, 07 August 2024

Clarification: COVID-19 and the Paris 2024 Olympics

"As of 6 August 2024, WHO’s event-based surveillance system, which scans reports from media and other verified sources, had reported that at least 40 Olympic athletes had tested positive for COVID-19 or other respiratory illnesses.

We are clarifying remarks WHO made to the media on 6 August indicating that at least 40 athletes had tested positive for COVID-19.  We apologize for the confusion.

WHO has been working closely with the International Olympic Committee and the Government of France to protect the health and well-being of the 10,714 athletes, as well as spectators, during the Games."

Source:

 

The original WHO announcement, done via a United Nations news release, is linked below:

https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/08/1152866

 

[stoner]

On 8/7/2024 at 6:30 AM, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Hmm..  And yet here you are regularly reading and posting about COVID topics that you seem to be professing to not care about....

 

PS - COVID was NOT "years ago now" to the 400+ Americans who are dying every week from COVID right now, or the 200+ people in England likewise dying per week from COVID, or the thousands more in those places and elsewhere still being hospitalized from it.

 

Some people, including many here on the forum, want to put COVID out of sight and out of mind, wishing it to be only a bad memory. But the COVID virus has other plans on that score.

 

Are things better now than they were at the worst time of the pandemic? Absolutely yes.

 

Has life everywhere returned to normal where there's no reason to be concerned about COVID and its continuing impacts of deaths, hospitalizations, and long-term health problems from Long COVID? To anyone paying attention to the realities of things, absolutely no.

 

 

 

 

Where did I say I don't care. You are making things up. 

 

Yes the serious threat that covid was ended years ago. Cancer is a serious threat as is heart disease. Where are your facts and charts of daily deaths.

 

There are concerns with many things in life.  to most people covid isn't one of them anymore. As evident by the lack of interest.

Edited August 9 by stoner