Next corona case in the run-up to the Summer Olympics: Czech beach volleyball player Ondřej Perušič tested positive for Covid-19 in the Olympic Village in Tokyo, the Czech Olympic Committee (COV) announced on Monday.
Perušič submitted “a positive sample during the daily test in the Olympic Village on Sunday, July 18,” said Czech Olympic team boss Martin Doktor: “He has absolutely no symptoms. We take care of all the details and of course the anti -Corona measures within the team. “
On Saturday, the COV announced that an employee tested positive for the corona virus upon landing in Tokyo. On Sunday, the corona test of two other athletes was also positive. The Summer Games will open on Friday. (07/19/2021)
Poll: Majority of Japanese people don’t believe in safe games
A few days before the opening of the Olympic Games in Tokyo, a large majority of the Japanese do not believe in the assurances of the organizers that the games will be “safe”. According to a survey published by the Japanese daily on Monday Asahi Shimbun 68 percent of the around 1500 respondents by phone believe that they cannot play safe games in view of the ongoing corona pandemic. Only 21 percent thought it was possible. 55 percent were against the games taking place at all. 33 percent agreed.
Two South African footballers and a supervisor of the team tested positive for the virus the last weekend before the start of the summer games. It was the first corona cases in the athletes’ village, where German athletes already live. IOC President Thomas Bach recently asserted that the village with its thousands of residents was “zero risk”.
The corona emergency will apply to the Tokyo metropolitan area for the fourth time during the entire Olympic period. The number of infections in Tokyo recently rose to the highest daily level in half a year. (07/19/2021)
First corona cases among athletes in the Olympic Village
Almost two weeks before the start of the Olympic Games in Tokyo (July 23 to August 8), two athletes in the Olympic Village tested positive for Corona. This was confirmed by the organizers of the summer games on Sunday. A third person who is not staying in the residential complex also tested positive. A 14-day quarantine was immediately ordered for all of them. An IOC member is also infected.
An official from abroad had previously tested positive in the Olympic Village, which will be home to 6,700 people during the Games. The local organizing committee did not provide any information on the disciplines of those affected or their nationalities. In addition, seven more cases were confirmed on Sunday, including five local employees and a journalist.
The games are scheduled to start next Friday and last two weeks. Because of the pandemic, no spectators are allowed at the competition venues in Tokyo. The Summer Olympics, originally planned for 2020, had been postponed for a year due to the pandemic. (7/18/21)
British health minister feels slight corona symptoms
British Health Minister Sajid Javid has tested positive for the corona virus despite being vaccinated. Javid shared that in a video message on Twitter With. He felt a little battered and then did an antigen test – it turned out to be positive. Now he is waiting for the result of a PCR test.
“I am grateful that I received two doses of the vaccine and so far my symptoms have been very mild,” said Javid. He called on people to get immunized as well. In Great Britain, the number of new infections has been increasing massively for weeks. The 7-day incidence was last reported on July 11 at around 345. On July 16 alone, more than 50,000 new infections were registered. This is attributed, among other things, to the strong expansion of the delta variant.
Nevertheless, all corona measures in England are to be lifted on Monday. The government argues that the successful vaccination program has weakened the link between infections and hospital admissions and deaths. However, experts are particularly critical of the waiver of the mask requirement. Up to 100,000 new infections are expected in the UK every day in the coming weeks. (07/17/2021)
Astra-Zeneca developer questions vaccination of children in general
The lead developer of the Astrazeneca vaccine, Sarah Gilbert, has questioned the benefits of corona vaccination for all children. Politicians should make a cost-benefit analysis, said Gilbert in an interview with “Welt” and other European media. The Delta variant, for example, is very contagious, so that people get sick with a mild course despite two vaccinations. Serious cases and deaths are rare. “So if the transmission cannot be prevented and children neither become seriously ill nor die, then the question arises: Is vaccination worth it?”
At the same time, Gilbert made it clear that a vaccination could be useful for some children. “The virus is dangerous to a very small number of children. Countries should consider vaccinating them,” Gilbert said.
At the end of May, the EU Commission officially approved the vaccination of children aged twelve and over with the vaccine from Biontech / Pfizer. For Germany, however, the Standing Vaccination Commission has so far only recommended vaccination for children and adolescents with certain previous illnesses who have an increased risk of a severe course.
Booster vaccinations will not be necessary for the general population, according to the immunologist Gilbert. “The effectiveness declines faster, especially in older people. Because the immune system ages, the response with antibodies is no longer as good. So if we need boosters, then it will be for the older population. I do not expect this for the general population becomes necessary. ” (07/17/2021)
Biden: Platforms like Facebook would kill “people” with Fakenews
Misinformation on social media about coronavirus and vaccinations are responsible for the deaths of many people, according to US President Joe Biden. When asked by a reporter what his message was about the spread of misinformation for platforms like Facebook, Biden said, “They’re killing people.” The pandemic in the US has become a “pandemic among the unvaccinated,” said Biden on Friday in the garden of the White House.
The US government makes misinformation on social networks jointly responsible for the wait-and-see or negative attitude of many Americans towards the corona vaccines. In the USA, the number of new infections has recently risen again rapidly in areas with a lower vaccination rate, driven by the particularly contagious Delta variant. The vaccination campaign, on the other hand, is only making slow progress. According to the CDC health authority, a good 185 million people have received at least the first corona vaccination so far – this corresponds to around 56 percent of the entire population.
It was only on Thursday that the US government’s chief health official, Vivek Murthy, warned the White House of the effects of misinformation. “We live in a world today where misinformation is an imminent and insidious threat to our nation’s health.” During the pandemic, misinformation resulted in people not wearing masks. Now people would choose not to get vaccinated because of this. Modern technology companies have made it possible for “misinformation to poison our information environment,” he complained. (07/17/2021)
Decision on US entry restrictions expected
US President Joe Biden is expected to comment on the corona-related entry restrictions for people from Germany and other European Schengen countries in the coming days. Chancellor Angela Merkel raised the issue, said Biden on Thursday after a meeting with the CDU politician in Washington. How soon the travel restrictions can be lifted is currently being discussed. He will be able to answer the question in the coming days, said Biden. “I’m waiting to hear from our people on our Covid team when this should happen.”
Merkel said she had exchanged ideas with Biden about the delta variant of the corona virus. That is a new challenge. A sustainable decision must now be made that will not be taken back after a short time.
The EU had already urged member states last month to gradually lift restrictions on travelers from the US and several other countries. Germany then allowed entries from the USA, among others, “for all permissible purposes of residence, including tourism”. In the opposite direction, i.e. for entry into the USA, strict requirements still apply. (07/16/2021)