More than 40 Paris Olympics athletes come down with COVID, as global infections rise

More than 40 athletes astatine nan Paris Olympics person tested affirmative for COVID-19, highlighting a caller world emergence successful cases arsenic vaccination sum plunges, nan World Health Organisation said today 

The WHO said nan microorganism down nan COVID-19 pandemic was still circulating - and countries request to sharpen up their consequence systems and get jabbing those astir astatine risk.

Several precocious floor plan athletes person suffered from COVID-19 astatine nan 2024 Paris Games.

British swimmer Adam Peaty tested affirmative a time aft winning metallic successful nan 100m breaststroke erstwhile he had not felt well, his squad said. Australian badge dream Lani Pallister pulled retired of nan women's 1500m freestyle aft falling ill.

'COVID-19 is still very overmuch pinch us. The microorganism is circulating successful each countries,' said Maria Van Kerkhove, nan WHO's pandemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention director.

Data from 84 countries shows that nan percent of affirmative tests for SARS-CoV-2 - nan microorganism that causes Covid-19 illness - 'has been rising for respective weeks', she told a media briefing.

Furthermore, wastewater surveillance - which tends to springiness a two-to-three-week beforehand denotation connected hospitalisations - suggests SARS-CoV-2 circulation is 'two to 20 times higher than what is presently being reported', she said.

'This is important because nan microorganism continues to germinate and change, which puts america each astatine consequence of a perchance much terrible microorganism that could evade our discovery and/or our aesculapian interventions, including vaccination.'

Worldwide, nan trial positivity complaint is supra 10%, but successful Europe, nan fig is complete 20%.

Van Kerkhove said nan precocious circulation was not emblematic for respiratory viruses which thin to move much successful nan colder months.

However, 'in caller months, sloppy of season, galore countries person knowledgeable surges of Covid-19, including astatine nan Olympics, currently, wherever astatine slightest 40 athletes person tested positive,' she said.

'It's not astonishing to spot athletes being infected, because arsenic I said before, nan microorganism is circulating rather rampantly successful different countries.'

Van Kerkhove said nan Paris 2024 chiefs and nan WHO had worked together to forestall illness circulation astatine nan Games and nan correct measures were being taken.

'We person observed much group wearing masks astatine nan Olympics - and I deliberation that is to return into information nan circulation of SARS-CoV-2,' she said.

The cases astatine nan Olympics underline nan existent circulation of nan virus, pinch nan WHO concerned astir really vaccination against processing terrible COVID illness has dropped off.

'Over nan past 2 years, we person seen an alarming diminution successful vaccine coverage, particularly among among wellness workers and group complete 60 - 2 of nan astir at-risk groups. This urgently needs to beryllium turned around,' said Van Kerkhove, branding their existent sum rates 'abysmal'.

The UN wellness agency urged group to guarantee they had received a COVID-19 vaccination dose successful nan past 12 months - particularly those astatine higher risk.

It recommended administering Covid jabs alongside seasonal influenza vaccines arsenic a measurement to boost coverage.

'Our interest is... pinch specified debased sum and pinch specified ample circulation, if we were to person a version that would beryllium much severe, past nan susceptibility of nan at-risk populations to create terrible illness is huge,' Van Kerkhove explained.

Furthermore, astir six percent of symptomatic cases spell connected to create post-COVID conditions, aliases Long Covid, causing a 'massive burden' for wellness services.

Post-pandemic, 'the cognition that COVID is gone is real... but nan microorganism isn't gone,' Van Kerkhove stressed.