At least 40 athletes participating in the Paris Olympic Games have tested positive for Covid-19, in line with a rise in cases around the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
“It is not surprising that there are athletes infected, because the virus is circulating quite a bit “in other countries,” said epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove, director of the WHO’s pandemic prevention and preparedness unit, at a press conference in Geneva.
And he said: “In recent months, (…) many countries have experienced a spike in covid-19 casesalso during the Olympic Games, where at least 40 athletes have tested positive.
Van Kerkhove said the International Olympic Committee, with the help of the WHO, “examined the strategies that need to be put in place” for mass gatherings such as the Games and took “appropriate measures”He also stressed that the virus is still “very present” in the world and is circulating in “all countries.”
Data collected by the WHO through an epidemiological surveillance sentinel system in 84 countries show that the percentage of positive cases in Covid-19 tests has increased in recent weeks.
This increase “has caused an increase in the number of hospitalizations and deaths “In several countries,” Van Kerkhove said. “Globally, the rate of positive tests is above 10%, but this figure varies from region to region.” In Europe, for example, the percentage is more than 20%.
The WHO expert has stressed that measurements in wastewater suggest that the virus is circulating «between 2 and 20 times more» than case reports.
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