More athletes emerge from isolation but Games hopes crushed for some - CNA

BEIJING: Dozens of athletes who tested positive for COVID-19 in China before and during the Beijing Winter Olympics and were isolated, have now come out of quarantine ready to compete, organisers said on Tuesday (Feb 8).

For many others though, the dream of Olympic glory has ended prematurely, or still hangs in the balance, following their positive PCR tests in Beijing.

Since Jan 23, about 159 team athletes and staff have tested positive either at the airport in Beijing or in the "closed loop", which restricts movements for all Games participants and keeps them away from the local population.

So far 50 athletes, including three-time Olympic medallist American bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor, have been discharged from their isolation quarters and allowed to resume normal training as well as compete in their events if they have not missed them.

For 32 other athletes, such as three-time gold medallist Nordic combined skier Eric Frenzel of Germany and Finland's ice hockey player Marko Anttila, the agony of isolation continues, with the Games that started on Friday ending on Feb 20.

They all remain shielded from the rest of their teams in special locations.

These isolation quarters have triggered the fury of athletes and team officials alike, demanding organisers immediately improve conditions, including better food, Internet, training equipment and more space.

Others such as Polish speed skater Natalia Maliszewska, 26, had to endure a back-and-forth between isolation facilities and the Olympic village due to negative tests being followed by positive ones, a process that left her fearful and in constant tears.

"I understand the frustration and disappointment. It is not a good place to be but we are trying to improve that," Brian McCloskey, chair of the Beijing 2022 medical expert panel, said.

"I cannot make the pandemic go away. The pandemic is real and the risk is real," he said.

McCloskey said testing negative and positive intermittently could be either down to an old infection still shedding or a new one. Athletes who tested positive could not be introduced into the Games' loop and risk a spread of the virus.

He rejected claims that testing was based on political or cultural criteria that could give the home nation an advantage. That concern had been voiced by some officials and athletes prior to the Games.

"They (tests) are based on science and they have been for many months before the Games started," he said. "We have been looking at evidence (regarding COVID-19) as it emerged and we have been playing that into the protocols here."

"People can continue to test positive intermittently."

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2022-02-08 06:18:00Z
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After two years of closed borders, Australia welcomes the world back - Reuters

SYDNEY, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Australia said on Monday it will reopen its borders to vaccinated travellers this month, ending two years of misery for the tourism sector, reviving migration and injecting billions of dollars into the world No. 13 economy.

The move effectively calls time on the last main component of Australia's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which it has attributed to relatively low death and infection rates. The other core strategy, stop-start lockdowns, was shelved for good in December.

The country had taken steps in recent months to relax border controls, like allowing in skilled migrants and quarantine-free travel arrangements - "travel bubbles" - with select countries like New Zealand.

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But the reopening, which takes effect on Feb. 21, represents the first time since March 2020 that people can travel to Australia from anywhere in the world as long as they are vaccinated.

"If you're double-vaccinated, we look forward to welcoming you back to Australia," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said at a media briefing in Canberra.

The tourism industry, which has relied on the domestic market that has itself been heavily impacted by movement restrictions, welcomed the decision which comes three months before Morrison is due to face an election.

"Over the two years since the borders have been closed the industry has been on its knees," said Australian Tourism Export Council Managing Director Peter Shelley by phone.

"Now we can turn our collective efforts towards rebuilding an industry that is in disrepair," he added.

Tourism and Transport Forum CEO Margy Osmond said the industry was "thrilled" by the reopening, but would need coordination to ensure Australia was competitive as a destination.

A Singapore Airlines plane arriving from Singapore lands at the international terminal at Sydney Airport, as countries react to the new coronavirus Omicron variant amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Sydney, Australia, November 30, 2021. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

"It's not as simple as just turning on the tap and we see numbers of international tourists back where they were pre-COVID," she told reporters.

International and domestic tourism losses since the start of the pandemic totalled A$101.7 billion ($72 billion), according to government body Tourism Research Australia. International travel spending in Australia plunged from A$44.6 billion in the 2018-19 financial year to A$1.3 billion in 2020-21, TRA said.

Shares of tourism-related stocks soared as investors cheered the prospect of a return to profit growth. Shares of the country's main airline Qantas Airways Ltd (QAN.AX) jumped 5% while shares of travel agent Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (FLT.AX) surged 8%.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said in a statement the company was looking at flight schedules to determine ways to restart flights from more international locations soon.

As elsewhere in the world, Australian COVID cases have soared in recent weeks due to the Omicron variant which medical experts say may be more transmissable but less virulent than previous strains.

But with more than nine in 10 Australians aged over 16 fully vaccinated, new cases and hospitalisations appear to have slowed, the authorities say.

The country reported just over 23,000 new infections on Monday, its lowest for 2022 and far from a peak of 150,000 around a month ago.

Morrison meanwhile said the government would send up to 1,700 Australian Defence Force personnel to fill staffing shortages in the aged care sector, following complaints of understaffing and fatigue due to increased pressures brought by the pandemic.

Around 2.4 million cases have been recorded in Australia since the first Omicron case was detected in Australia in November. Until then, Australia had counted only around 200,000 cases. Total deaths stand at 4,248 since the pandemic began.

($1 = 1.4106 Australian dollars)

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Reporting by Renju Jose and Jamie Freed; Writing by Byron Kaye; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Stephen Coates and Michael Perry

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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2022-02-07 11:20:00Z
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'Ice Prince' Yuzuru Hanyu tops Winter Games panda mascot in popularity - CNA

BEIJING: He's the only one who can top Beijing's Winter Olympics mascot "Bing Dwen Dwen" in a popularity match.

Japan's star figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu, still hidden from public view but finally confirmed to be in Beijing, has become the top trend on China's social media site Weibo, outdoing the country's most-sought-after mascot in its native land.

After keeping fans and journalists on tenterhooks for days, the Japanese Olympic Committee said the twice Olympic champion arrived in Beijing on Sunday (Feb 6), though he would not be appearing in front of media.

His arrival set off news flashes, while the Olympics' official Twitter feed also gave him the VIP treatment with the headline: "Touchdown: Hanyu Yuzuru has arrived in Beijing for the Olympic Winter Games."

On Weibo, the phrase "The time for Hanyu to compete is set" was number one by Sunday evening, with fawning fans pouring out their admiration for the "Ice Prince".

"I will trust him unconditionally, I will cheer for him unconditionally," wrote a user nicknamed "fanyuemoxiang".

"No matter what the result, nothing will change you as a great athlete in my heart. All the best to Hanyu at the Beijing Olympics. I started to learn about figure skating because of you," said "Lunongqiuzhong".

Still, Bing Dwen Dwen was no slouch, winning the second and fourth top spots on the platform, against its more slender opponent's number one and five. Chinese President Xi Jinping's speech about winter sports ranked third.

"I work part-time at a supermarket. Cannot believe that even the aunties are talking about Bing Dwen Dwen and Hanyu!" said "Chenhongxin in 778 class" on Weibo.

Fans of the droopy-eyed bear have been queuing for hours to get a hold of Bing Dwen Dwen merchandise, forcing authorities to announce on Sunday morning that China would boost supply.

Hanyu has made it his mission to become the first skater to land the quadruple Axel - regarded as the most difficult of the six figure-skating jumps - and include that in his Beijing programme in his quest for a third consecutive gold.

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2022-02-06 11:33:00Z
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Hong Kong reports record daily high of 351 coronavirus cases - CNA

HONG KONG: Hong Kong reported 351 cases of coronavirus on Saturday (Feb 5), a record daily high since the outbreak of the pandemic, further pressuring the government's "dynamic zero-COVID" strategy as other major cities opt to live with the virus.

Health Secretary Sophia Chan said at a news conference she expects cases to rise "exponentially" following the Lunar New Year holiday due to an increase in family and social gatherings and appealed several times for people to stay indoors.

"Stay at home, please," Chan said as she again urged people, especially the elderly, to get vaccinated.

About 160 of the latest cases had no clear source and were still being investigated, authorities said.

The global financial hub has become one of the most isolated cities in the world, with flights down around 90 per cent due to strict coronavirus regulations and schools, playgrounds, gyms as well as most other venues shut. Restaurants close at 6pm.

The government this week extended a work-from-home plan for civil servants and Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said the city plans to roll out rapid antigen tests for COVID-19 to all its 7.5 million people in the near future.

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2022-02-05 10:17:00Z
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MOH conducting investigation of 103-year-old woman erroneously given 4th dose of COVID-19 vaccine - CNA

“Our preliminary findings were that the vaccine was erroneously administered due to possible irregularities in vaccination procedures and poor communication between the nursing home and the medical service provider handling the vaccination,” it said.

“This is the first case of mistaken identity leading to erroneous vaccination by a mobile vaccination team in over 152,000 vaccinations to date.”

In a statement, ECON Healthcare Group said the error was discovered about five minutes after the vaccine was administered.

"The teams from ECON and PanCare attended to the resident, and extended the observation time. The resident had no adverse reaction during that time," it said. 

"ECON and PanCare take a serious view of the incident, and have reviewed our processes to prevent any further recurrence."

It also said that it has been rendering support to the resident's family and "will continue to do so".

MOH added that it planned to announce the incident in December. “However, the family of the resident had requested to withhold details which could have led to the identification of the resident,” it said.

“We have since consulted the family further and are releasing the information to provide clarity on the incident.

“We understand that ECON Healthcare Group and PanCare Medical Clinic have co-funded the resident’s hospital bill as a goodwill gesture. ECON Healthcare has also been in contact with the resident’s family to render support to them."

MOH added: “Both ECON Healthcare and PanCare Medical Clinic have reviewed their processes to prevent a recurrence.  The Agency for Integrated Care, whose role is to facilitate vaccinations in nursing homes, has reminded all nursing homes to ensure proper communications with the mobile vaccination teams when vaccination takes place.

“MOH has also reminded all mobile vaccination teams to perform independent identity verification and authentication before administering any vaccination.”

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2022-02-04 14:22:57Z
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Beijing will deliver 'safe and splendid' Games: Chinese President Xi - CNA

IOC President Thomas Bach has repeatedly defended his organisation's choice for the 2022 Olympics, saying the IOC was not a political body nor was its mandate to influence laws in sovereign states.

He said on Thursday that in the two years leading up to the Beijing Games he had seen "the dark clouds of the growing politicisation of sport on the horizon."

"We also saw that in some peoples' minds the boycott ghosts of the past were rearing their ugly heads again," Bach said.

The 1976, 1980 and 1984 Olympics were all hit by boycotts of countries during the Cold War era, severely denting the event's universality and finances.

"This is why we have been working even harder to get this unifying mission of the Olympic Games across to as many leaders and decision makers as possible," Bach said.

He also noted what he said were major commercial opportunities created by these Games which he expected would transform the global winter sports industry.

"Today we can say China is a winter sport country. This is why Beijing 2022 will be the start of a new era for global winter sport," Bach said.

He estimated China's winter sports industry to be worth some US$150 billion by 2025.

"From this tremendous growth the winter sports industry around the world will benefit," Bach said.

Catch the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 LIVE with nine dedicated channels on meWATCH. Sign in now at www.mewatch.sg/Beijing2022 and get into the action with Mediacorp, Singapore’s Olympics Network. Or catch highlights on Mediacorp Entertainment on YouTube. 

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2022-02-03 03:25:00Z
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Norway predicted to top Winter Games medals table again - CNA

BEIJING: Norway will top the medals table for a second successive Winter Olympics with Germany in second place, according to final projections by Nielsen's Gracenote ahead of the Beijing Games.

The Norwegians, who won 14 gold and a record 39 medals in Pyeongchang, are forecast to raise those tallies to 21 gold and a total haul of 44.

The key to Norway's dominance will be their performances in cross-country skiing and biathlon, with 28 of the medals forecast to come in those sports.

Germany and the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) are predicted to take home 30 medals each, but with 11 golds to the ROC's 10, the Germans are in line to repeat their second-placed finish in Pyeongchang.

Russian athletes, competing under the flag of their Olympic committee because of doping sanctions, are projected to tie their previous best Winter Olympics tally from Sochi in 2014.

The United States is predicted to finish fourth in the table with seven golds, down from nine in 2018, but that would be enough to reassert their ascendancy over Canada.

The Canadians won 11 events in Pyeongchang to finish above their North American neighbours but are forecast to drop from third to fifth with six golds in Beijing.

Gracenote uses data from Olympics, World Championships and World Cups to feed a statistical model that forecasts the most likely gold, silver and bronze medallist in each event.

Host China is predicted to finish in 12th place with six golds and 13 medals overall, which would be their most successful Winter Olympics.

Japan is also expected to better its previous record of 13 medals with 19 while South Korea could take home only seven medals, down from 17 in Pyeongchang.

Gracenote said, however, that medal estimates for Asian countries may be lower due to the inactivity of athletes in many sports during the 2020-21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Beijing Games run from Feb 4 to Feb 20.

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2022-02-02 07:08:00Z
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