As the Beijing Olympics Start, Omicron Looms Large
The Beijing Olympics kicked off on Feb. 4 with opening ceremonies, marking the second time the Games have been held during the pandemic. (Last year’s Olympics in Tokyo were the first.) Hosting the Olympics during COVID-19 requires Herculean efforts to keep cases as low as possible as athletes, coaches, staff, and press gather from around the world.
It can take months for researchers to accurately determine the impact of massive events like these. Research published yesterday finds that Tokyo was largely successful at controlling the spread of COVID-19, my colleague Alice Park writes. Out of more than 1 million COVID-19 tests performed during the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics—most of which were saliva-based antigen tests—only about 300 came back positive: a positivity rate of 0.03%. That, Alice reports, is likely thanks to aggressive testing and isolation protocols, as well as a “bubble” approach to limit exposure with people outside the Olympic Village.
Beijing’s containment measures are even stricter. Everyone participating in the Games must be vaccinated, and those with legitimate medical vaccine exemptions had to quarantine for 21 days before arrival in Beijing. Athletes, staff, media, and other travelers must stay in the Olympic bubble for their entire stay in China and will be moved to a hospital or isolation facility if they test positive. Staff must also wear head-to-toe protective suits while interacting with athletes.
Even with these measures in place, though, there’s no guarantee that the Beijing Games will be as successful as those in Tokyo. For one thing, the highly contagious Omicron variant didn’t exist during the Tokyo Games. With its ability to infect huge numbers of people, including those who are fully vaccinated, even a small number of positive tests could create a domino effect. Those concerns are further heightened by the fact that Chinese officials reported today that more than 300 people who were in the Beijing bubble or trying to enter it have already tested positive so far, the New York Times reported.
“It's hard to predict surges, especially with Omicron, but I think it's fair to say that cases, even within the so-called 'closed loop' that Beijing created, and even with the careful control measures, will be inevitable,” Alice says.
More than 388 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 12 a.m. E.T. today, and 5.7 million people have died. On Feb. 3, there were more than 3.1 million new cases and 11,471 new deaths confirmed globally.
Here's how the world as a whole is currently trending, in terms of cases:
And in terms of deaths:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
And here's every country that has reported over 5 million cases:
The U.S. had recorded more than 75.9 million coronavirus cases as of 12 a.m. E.T. today. More than 896,000 people have died. On Feb. 3, there were 282,262 new cases and 2,241 new deaths confirmed in the U.S.
Here's how the country as a whole is currently trending in terms of cases:
And in terms of deaths:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of Feb. 4, 12 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
As many Americans await their rapid at-home COVID-19 tests from the U.S. government, experts are warning that the tests may lose accuracy if they get too cold in transit. Most brands recommend storing their tests above 35°F so that the reagents don’t freeze and become compromised, USA Today reports. That’s a problem, particularly with much of the country enduring winter storms this week. If your at-home tests spend prolonged time outside in very cold temperatures, experts told USA Today, you may be more likely to get a false negative—so if you have symptoms, you should still confirm the results with a PCR test.
Afrigen Biologics, a South Africa-based vaccine manufacturer, has produced its own version of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine using publicly available data about the shot. Scientists haven’t yet tested it in people, but they may be ready to do so by the end of the year, company executives said. The World Health Organization has provided significant funding to Afrigen Biologics in hopes of finding a way for lower-income countries to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines even without direct cooperation from vaccine giants like Pfizer and Moderna. (Moderna has said that it will not enforce intellectual property protections during the pandemic, effectively clearing the way for companies to copy its vaccine.)
Since COVID-19 vaccines first rolled out, people have been reporting changes in their menstrual cycles after getting the shots. Now, as the Wall Street Journal reports, research is validating their experiences, confirming that COVID-19 vaccines are linked to menstrual changes in some people. Most of these changes seem to be temporary and do not suggest health risks associated with vaccination, researchers told the Journal. Nonetheless, their findings help confirm what individuals have been noticing for months.
You probably know someone who didn’t catch the virus after being in close proximity with a spouse, roommate, or child who tested positive. As CNBC reports, many researchers are now studying this group to better understand COVID-19 immunity. It’s possible that some people have genetic resistance to the virus or have leftover immunity from exposures to other coronaviruses. But research is in its early stages, and vaccination remains the safest and surest way to protect yourself against the virus.
Austria today became the first European country to codify a national vaccine mandate. The policy, signed into law by President Alexander Van der Bellen, requires most adults to be vaccinated against COVID-19, with exceptions for pregnant people and those who have valid medical reasons not to get inoculated. Starting in March, those found to be flouting the mandate could pay thousands of dollars in fines each year, according to CNN.
Most studies on face masks take place in labs, which makes it hard to say exactly how they affect disease spread in the real world. But a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention contains real-world data showing that masks help prevent transmission of the virus that causes COVID-19. After analyzing data from almost 2,000 people who said they were in a public indoor space within two weeks of getting a COVID-19 test, the researchers found that people who reported always wearing a mask inside were about 60% less likely to later test positive, compared to those who went unmasked. People who wore highly protective N95 or KN95 respirators were about 80% less likely to test positive.
Thanks for reading. We hope you find the Coronavirus Brief newsletter to be a helpful tool to navigate this very complex situation, and welcome feedback at coronavirus.brief@time.com. If you have specific questions you'd like us to answer, please send them to covidquestions@time.com.
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Today's newsletter was written by Jamie Ducharme and edited by Mandy Oaklander.
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