Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Olympic Covid Surge Grows As More Athletes And Staff Test Positive
AP: Total COVID-19 Cases Rise To 71 At Tokyo Olympics
An American gymnast and a Czech beach volleyball player were added to the tally Tuesday of people accredited for the Tokyo Olympics who have tested positive for COVID-19 this month. Tokyo Olympics organizers said 71 people have now tested positive. The total includes 31 people among the tens of thousands of international visitors expected in Japan to compete or work at the Games, which open Friday. Positive tests for United States gymnastics alternate Kara Eaker and Czech team member Ondřej Perušič were announced Monday. Eaker was at a training camp in Chiba prefecture and Perušič stayed at the Olympic Village in Tokyo Bay. (7/20)
Reuters: Athletes' Village COVID-19 Infection Bubble Already 'Broken' - Health Expert
The so-called bubble to control COVID-19 infections at the Olympic athletes' village in Tokyo is already "broken" and poses a risk of spreading infections to the general populace, a prominent public health expert said on Tuesday. Games officials on Sunday reported the first COVID-19 case among competitors in the village in Tokyo where 11,000 athletes are expected to stay. There have been 67 cases detected among those accredited for the Games since July 1, organisers said on Tuesday. (Swift, 7/20)
AP: Samuelson Tests Positive For COVID-19, Out Of Olympics
Katie Lou Samuelson is out of 3-on-3 basketball at the Olympics after contracting COVID-19 while training in Las Vegas. “I will not be able to go and compete in Tokyo," Samuelson said in a statement. "Competing in the Olympics has been a dream of mine since I was a little girl and I hope someday soon I can come back to realize that dream. I am especially heartbroken as I am fully vaccinated and took every precaution, but I know everything will work itself out in the way it’s supposed to. I wish nothing but the best to my USAB teammates as they go out there and crush it. I’ll be cheering you in every step of the way.” (Feinberg, 7/19)
The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Alternate Tests Positive For Covid-19 At Tokyo Olympics
USA Gymnastics said that after the Covid protocols for the Games were reviewed, the local government put the gymnast who tested positive and one other additional alternate gymnast into quarantine. Neither athlete was named. The father of 18-year-old Kara Eaker confirmed on Monday that his daughter was the gymnast who had tested positive. Mark Eaker said in a text message that Kara had been vaccinated under the two-dose Pfizer regimen, and was not currently experiencing any symptoms. (Radnofsky and Beaton, 7/19)
In other news about Olympic athletes —
The Washington Post: This Deaf-Blind Paralympian Was Told To Navigate Tokyo Alone. So She Quit Team USA
Five years ago, Becca Meyers was on the floor of her room in the Olympic Village at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics, balled up and sobbing, frustrated and terrified. She had stopped eating because she couldn’t find the athletes’ dining area. Even after her parents rescued her and pumped her full of calories and confidence in time for her to win three gold medals and a silver for Team USA, she made a promise to herself: She would never put herself through such a nightmare again. On Sunday evening, roughly five weeks before the start of the Tokyo Paralympics, Meyers, a deaf-blind swimmer with a chance to medal in four events, pulled the plug on her Olympic dream — most likely forever. With a click, she sent an email informing U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee officials of her decision to withdraw from Team USA. (Sheinin, 7/19)
