Tokyo Olympics: WHO Predicts 100,000 Covid Deaths By End Of Games

'Dotun Akintomide
Writer
Tedros

Ad

2027: Peter Obi’s Supporters, Wike in massive war of words.

Wike: Nobody Serves one-term, and sticks to it. Obi is misleading Nigerians with one-term...talk. Obidients: "Mandela said he 'll serve one-term, he did! Lyndon B. Johnson said one-term term, and he did! We believe in Obi." By Obinna Uballa The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has accused former Labour Party presidential…

2027: Party Democracry in Tatters as Wike Tears PDP into Shreds, Says National Convention will Not Hold unless…

By Abiola Olawale The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may be heading for another deepening crisis as Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has warned that the party’s scheduled National Convention, scheduled for November 15-16, 2025, in Ibadan, Oyo State, may not hold. This is as Wike maintained that unless critical internal…

Reaction as Finnish court jails Simon Ekpa for six years over terrorism, incitement

By Obinna Uballa The Päijät-Häme District Court in Finland has sentenced pro-Biafra agitator Simon Ekpa to six years in prison after finding him guilty of terrorism-related offences. Ekpa was convicted on charges of inciting terrorism and participating in the activities of a terrorist organisation, a verdict that marks a dramatic turn in his controversial activism.…

Ad

The World Health Organization (WHO) has predicted 100,000 covid-19 deaths by the end of the Tokyo Olympics this summer.

The Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, delayed for a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, finally kicked off today, Wednesday, July 21.

Some 11,000 athletes from 200 countries are set to arrive for the Olympics and the number of cases in Japan linked to the Games now stands at 79, according to organizers. Five of them are Olympic Village residents, three of which are athletes. Competitors including US gymnast Kara Eaker, basketball player Katie Lou Samuelson and tennis star Coco Gauff tested positive for Covid prior to arriving in Tokyo, ending their Olympic dreams.

However, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has urged people not to forget that the Covid-19 pandemic is still plaguing the world and an event like this could be a super spreader.

“By the time the Olympic flame is extinguished on the eighth of August, more than 100,000 more people will perish,” Tedros, who is in Tokyo for the Games, said on Wednesday.

“The pandemic is a test, and the world is failing,” he said, adding that anyone who thinks the pandemic is over is living in a “fool’s paradise.”

The WHO chief’s comments come as cases continue to surge globally, including in Japan, where Tokyo on Wednesday reported its highest daily increase of new infections since mid-January.

Opinion polls in Japan show that most people oppose holding a major sporting event during a public health crisid and even the International Olympic Committee (IOC) barred fans from attending the competition — an Olympic first.

Ad

X whatsapp