- At least 40 athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympics, including swimmers from multiple countries and 16 from Australia, have tested positive for COVID-19 recently.
- Unlike previous Olympics, Paris has no strict COVID-19 restrictions, leading to concerns about virus spread.
- The global COVID-19 positivity rate is around 10%, but Europe, including the Olympic Village, is experiencing higher rates.
At least 40 athletes competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past two weeks, prompting concerns about the effectiveness of current health measures. The Olympics are being held without the strict protocols seen in previous Games, raising questions about potential virus transmission. Despite a notable rise in COVID-19 globally, including in Europe, organizers and health officials are monitoring the situation closely while emphasizing that the current measures are in line with good practices, reports Today.
Is there a COVID outbreak at the Olympics?
So far, at least 40 athletes have tested positive for COVID-19 at the Paris Olympics. This does not meet the threshold to be considered an outbreak, NBC News medical contributor Dr. Kavita Patel, who has expertise in public health and pandemic preparedness, tells TODAY.com.
Patel notes that, based on existing guidelines, 5% of athletes (there are an estimated 11,000 total at the Paris Olympics) contracting COVID within seven days would constitute an outbreak.
Dr. William Schaffner, professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, tells TODAY.com that he’d call it “a cluster of infections. Some might call it a small outbreak … but that’s usually a designation (from) local public health investigators.”
However, COVID may be more widespread than the confirmed cases suggest. “The actual number of athletes infected, whether with symptoms or without or very mild symptoms, might be notably higher,” Schaffner points out.
“Anytime you have a large congregation of people in one place like this … you’re going to expect that there will be transmission and acquisition of respiratory infections. At the top of the list is COVID, since it’s spreading very widely and effectively at present,” Schaffner says.
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Source: Today
