India reports 362,727 new infections, 4,120 deaths; 40 towns in Japan decide not to accept overseas athletes ahead of olympics; ‘Increasing concern’ over India variant in UK says Boris Johnson
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Evidence is growing that a troubling variant of the coronavirus discovered in India is more transmissible than the variant first detected in Kent and which fuelled the UK’s second wave of infections and spread around the world.
It comes amid reports that Public Health England figures to be released on Thursday could show that the number of cases linked to the variant have tripled in a week. The i newspaper reported that scientists on the Sage advisory committee would hold an urgent meeting on Thursday to discuss the threat:
Related: UK Covid scientists: variant found in India variant may be spreading faster than Kent strain
Dozens of Japanese towns have abandoned plans to accept overseas athletes competing in the Olympics from July due to concerns about inadequate resources amid a fourth wave of coronavirus infections, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Thursday, Reuters reports.
Of 528 towns registered to welcome international competitors, about 40 have decided not to accept athletes for training camps and cultural exchanges before the global sporting showpiece, the Nikkei reported citing a government source.
Ibaraki prefecture Governor Kazuhiko Ooigawa said on Wednesday that he rejected the Tokyo Olympics Organising Committee’s request to secure hospital beds for the athletes as the prefecture had to prioritise citizens over athletes.
He has said a further postponement of the Games - which was originally due to be held last year - or outright cancellation should be considered if the pandemic worsened.
The United States’ track and field team has cancelled its pre-Olympics training camp in Japan out of concerns for their safety during the pandemic, the eastern prefecture of Chiba said on Wednesday.
Overseas athletes also will not participate in a test event for the Olympics BMX freestyle cycling, the Yomiuri newspaper said on Thursday, citing an unnamed source. The test event had been postponed from April to May 17 amid the pandemic.
source https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2021/may/13/coronavirus-live-news-japan-towns-abandon-plans-to-accept-overseas-olympic-athletes
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