The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced on Tuesday that more than 40 athletes competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics tested positive for COVID-19, shedding insight on a recent surge in global cases.
According to WHO, the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic is still circulating, and countries must strengthen their response mechanisms.
British swimmer Adam Peaty tested positive a day after winning silver in the 100m breaststroke because he was not feeling well, according to his team.
Lani Pallister, one of Australia's medal hopeful, also withdrew from the women's 1500m freestyle due to illness.
Data from 84 countries suggest that the ratio of positive tests for SARS-CoV-2 — the virus that causes COVID-19 disease "has been rising for several weeks", said Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's epidemic, pandemic preparedness and prevention director.
Furthermore, wastewater surveillance, which typically provides a two-to-three-week advance warning on case counts, implies that SARS-CoV-2 circulation is "two to 20 times higher than what is currently being reported," she told a media meeting.
"This is significant because the virus continues to evolve and change, which puts us all at risk of a potentially more severe virus that could evade our detection and/or our medical interventions, including vaccination," according to Kerkhove.
She went on to say that the high circulation was not typical for respiratory viruses that tend to increase in circulation in the colder months.
"It's not surprising to see athletes being infected, because as I said before, the virus is circulating quite rampantly in other countries."
