Sharjah24 – Reuters: The World Health Organization, which is advising the International Olympic Committee in the run-up to the Tokyo Games opening later this month, is urging caution so as to stem the spread of the coronavirus, a senior WHO official said on Friday (July 2).
Crowds at Euro 2020 soccer stadiums in host cities are driving the current rise in COVID-19 infections in Europe, the WHO's regional office said on Thursday.
Maria van Kerkhove, WHO technical lead on COVID-19 at its global headquarters, was asked what lessons the organisation was drawing from the Euro 2020 tournament in order to advise the IOC and Tokyo organisers ahead of the event's opening on July 23.
"The IOC and others have outlined their plans in taking their approach for the Olympics, and we have been engaging with them and advising them on the best use of those plans," van Kerkhove told a Geneva news conference.
She said the WHO was learning from Euro 2020, adding: "If the virus is present and precautions are not in place the virus will spread."
"We urge caution. We urge everyone to take caution in what they do," she added.
Mike Ryan, head of WHO's emergencies programme, said last month that it would discuss managing COVID-19 risks with Japanese authorities and the IOC, after organisers announced some spectators would be permitted to attend, although fans from overseas have already been banned.
On vaccination, a report from Oxford University saying that a longer gap between doses of AstraZeneca vaccines still provides protection is "very reassuring" for supply-strapped countries, World Health Organization chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said.
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