In a study posted to the medRxiv preprint* server, researchers in the United Kingdom (UK) investigated the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on brain aging using longitudinal neuroimaging data, comparing brain age predictions of participants before and after the pandemic onset. They found that the pandemic significantly accelerated brain aging, especially in males and individuals from deprived backgrounds, and correlated with reduced cognitive performance in COVID-19-infected participants.
Study: Brains Under Stress: Unravelling the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Brain Ageing. Image Credit:Pavel_Kostenko/ Shutterstock
*Important notice: medRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, beyond its respiratory effects, shows neurotropic characteristics, leading to symptoms like fatigue, depression, and cognitive impairment. The viruss neuro-invasion can persist for up to 230 days, leading to cognitive decline and neurodegenerative processes. Previous studies have linked COVID-19 to cognitive decline, brain changes, and brain aging markers. Longitudinal studies show higher cognitive decline in COVID-19 survivors, with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealing reductions in grey and white matter.
Additionally, the early pandemic caused significant psychological stress, particularly among vulnerable populations. These stressors may have accelerated brain aging due to psychosocial stressors, social disruptions, and lifestyle changes. Therefore, comprehensively understanding the pandemics impact on brain health, considering infection and sociodemographic factors, is crucial. In the present study, researchers used UK Biobank (UKBB) neuroimaging data to investigate the impact of COVID-19 and the pandemic on brain aging. They examined the rate of brain aging by considering infection status, sex, socioeconomic factors, and cognitive decline.
High-quality multimodal brain imaging data of 42,677 individuals aged at least 45 years were obtained from the UKBB. Participants with preexisting chronic disorders or low-quality MRI data were excluded to avoid bias in predictions. Approximately 5,000 participants had repeat scans.
Participants positive for SARS-CoV-2 were identified using diagnostic tests, hospital data, healthcare records, or antibody tests. Controls and positive cases were matched 1:1 with respect to gender, birth date, ethnicity, imaging location, and the date of the initial imaging. A regression model was used to assess brain aging using imaging-derived phenotypes (IDPs) to estimate brain age gaps (BAGs) at two time points. BAG was defined as the difference in the chronological age and predicted brain age. The brain age prediction model was trained on 15,334 participants and validated on scans from 1,336 participants. In the control group, both scans were taken before the pandemic, while in the pandemic group, scans were taken before and after the pandemic. Interactions between brain aging and sociodemographic factors were also analyzed. Further, the study assessed cognitive scores, calculating the percentage change between two scans for the top 10 cognitive tests linked to dementia risk to compare cognitive abilities across different groups.
Results initially showed no significant BAG difference between the groups. However, the pandemic group exhibited a significantly higher rate of BAG (RBAG), indicating accelerated brain aging independent of COVID-19 infection status. On average, the BAG in the pandemic group was found to be higher by 11 months than that of the control group.
Further analysis suggested a stronger association between chronological age and RBAG in the pandemic group, with older participants experiencing more pronounced brain aging. The impact was more significant in males (RBAG 3.3 months) and individuals from deprived sociodemographic backgrounds (RBAG seven months). Cognitive performance, specifically in the trail-making test (TMT), was observed to decline more in the pandemic group, especially in those with COVID-19. This cognitive decline was associated with higher RBAG, suggesting that the pandemic worsened brain aging and cognitive decline, with a more pronounced effect in infected individuals.
Sociodemographic factors such as low health, employment, education, and income levels were found to be associated with a greater RBAG increase during the pandemic. Significant interactions between pandemic status and these factors were observed, highlighting their role in brain aging.
The study is strengthened by its use of BAG models to provide a sensitive and interpretable marker of brain health, leveraging a longitudinal, imaging-rich population study to assess psychosocial factors before and during the pandemic. However, the study is limited by only two time points, hampering the assessment of reversibility and differing time intervals between scans. Further research is warranted to establish causal relationships and long-term effects.
In summary, the study explored the broader health consequences of the pandemic and suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly accelerated brain aging, influenced by psychosocial factors, particularly social and health deprivation. The effects were found to be independent of infection status, with the exception of interactions between SARS-CoV-2 infection, brain aging, old age, and cognitive decline. Addressing health inequalities and lifestyle factors is therefore crucial to mitigate these effects. There remains a need for continued research and targeted policies to improve brain health outcomes in public health crises in the future.
*Important notice: medRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information.
What are some of the most common long COVID symptoms?
Peluso: Symptoms include brain fog issues with memory or thinking trouble breathing and fatigue. Fatigue doesnt mean feeling a little tired its bone-crushing fatigue, or what we refer to as post-exertional malaise.
Post-exertional malaise occurs when a physical, cognitive or even social activity that a person used to be able to do easily causes debilitating fatigue for days afterward. Its often best demonstrated by people who were quite fit before they got COVID running miles or going on long hikes, for instance. Now, they can only do a fraction of that.
Some people also have prominent gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea, abdominal pain or diarrhea. Were even seeing genitourinary symptoms like pelvic pain and menstruation issues.
Flaherman: Generally, people who have had a more severe COVID infection are at a higher risk for developing long COVID, as are elderly people, and those with pre-existing conditions or who have not been vaccinated.
Flaherman: We still dont know for sure, but our data suggests that pregnant people may be at a lower risk of developing long COVID when we compare to the estimates were getting from the adult RECOVER cohort. Still, long COVID affects pregnant people in uniquely risky ways. Almost 1 in 10 pregnant people developed long COVID in our recent study done alongside the University of Utah. That study involved about 1,500 people who had contracted COVID during pregnancy.
The most common symptom was post-exertional malaise.
Flaherman: Its difficult to be certain, but if it is possible, it seems quite rare.
Flaherman: If a pregnant person is infected with SARS-CoV02 at the time of delivery, then its possible that she, like anyone else in the delivery room, could transmit the virus to the baby. We recommend that mothers who have SARS-CoV-2 around delivery wear a mask while holding or breastfeeding their baby and wash their hands frequently for five days after they have been fever-free.
Flaherman: Yes. Breastfeeding provides benefits to babies, including some immunity to SARS-CoV-2, which helps them fight off any COVID-19 that they might be exposed to. We encourage mothers to breastfeed babies directly, even if they have COVID-19, but to mask and wash their hands frequently.
Flaherman: In the pregnant people and new mothers we studied, those who developed long COVID had symptoms for nearly a year on average.
Peluso: Most of the data shows that this can go on for years and that the proportion of people who fully recover is disturbingly small. Sometimes, its as low as 10%.
Peluso: If you had told me four years ago that wed be having this conversation about SARS-Cov-2 persisting in peoples bodies, I wouldnt have believed you.
Recently, we reported that we could find SARS-CoV-2 protein in the blood of some people post-COVID. This must be coming from somewhere. Our hypothesis is that pieces of the virus persist in tissues and organs, so at UCSF, we started by looking at the GI tract of people with long COVID. This is relatively easy to do as anyone whos ever had a colonoscopy would know.
What we found was surprising. Some people with long COVID had pieces of the virus in their GI tract, even a year or two after they had COVID. And we at UCSF were the first to show that this virus could still be active.
Peluso: We dont know for sure yet. But we detected double-stranded RNA, which should only be present if the virus was moving through its lifecycle and replicating.
Peluso: One reason might be that the virus is in pockets cordoned off from the immune system. For example, immune cells might have walled it off as they worked to contain it. Another possibility is that it hides out in areas that are tougher to reach, like the nervous system. A third possibility is that the virus could evolve after infection so that the immune response is no longer effective against it.
You can imagine all sorts of scenarios. We dont know which one is true yet. But this is a major lead that we are chasing down.
Peluso: Not getting COVID in the first place is the best strategy, but thats easier said than done. Im still quite diligent about masking and vaccination because studies have shown that being up to date with your vaccine when you get COVID-19 can reduce your risk of developing long COVID.
We dont yet know if taking Paxlovid or an antiviral will reduce your risk of long COVID, but it could help you and is worth discussing with your doctor.
Peluso: Symptoms include brain fog issues with memory or thinking trouble breathing and fatigue. Fatigue doesnt mean feeling a little tired its bone-crushing fatigue, or what we refer to as post-exertional malaise.
Post-exertional malaise occurs when a physical, cognitive or even social activity that a person used to be able to do easily causes debilitating fatigue for days afterward. Its often best demonstrated by people who were quite fit before they got COVID running miles or going on long hikes, for instance. Now, they can only do a fraction of that.
Some people also have prominent gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea, abdominal pain or diarrhea. Were even seeing genitourinary symptoms like pelvic pain and menstruation issues.
Flaherman: Generally, people who have had a more severe COVID infection are at a higher risk for developing long COVID, as are elderly people, and those with pre-existing conditions or who have not been vaccinated.
Flaherman: We still dont know for sure, but our data suggests that pregnant people may be at a lower risk of developing long COVID when we compare to the estimates were getting from the adult RECOVER cohort. Still, long COVID affects pregnant people in uniquely risky ways. Almost 1 in 10 pregnant people developed long COVID in our recent study done alongside the University of Utah. That study involved about 1,500 people who had contracted COVID during pregnancy.
The most common symptom was post-exertional malaise.
Flaherman: Its difficult to be certain, but if it is possible, it seems quite rare.
Flaherman: If a pregnant person is infected with SARS-CoV02 at the time of delivery, then its possible that she, like anyone else in the delivery room, could transmit the virus to the baby. We recommend that mothers who have SARS-CoV-2 around delivery wear a mask while holding or breastfeeding their baby and wash their hands frequently for five days after they have been fever-free.
Flaherman: Yes. Breastfeeding provides benefits to babies, including some immunity to SARS-CoV-2, which helps them fight off any COVID-19 that they might be exposed to. We encourage mothers to breastfeed babies directly, even if they have COVID-19, but to mask and wash their hands frequently.
Flaherman: In the pregnant people and new mothers we studied, those who developed long COVID had symptoms for nearly a year on average.
Peluso: Most of the data shows that this can go on for years and that the proportion of people who fully recover is disturbingly small. Sometimes, its as low as 10%.
Peluso: If you had told me four years ago that wed be having this conversation about SARS-Cov-2 persisting in peoples bodies, I wouldnt have believed you.
Recently, we reported that we could find SARS-CoV-2 protein in the blood of some people post-COVID. This must be coming from somewhere. Our hypothesis is that pieces of the virus persist in tissues and organs, so at UCSF, we started by looking at the GI tract of people with long COVID. This is relatively easy to do as anyone whos ever had a colonoscopy would know.
What we found was surprising. Some people with long COVID had pieces of the virus in their GI tract, even a year or two after they had COVID. And we at UCSF were the first to show that this virus could still be active.
Peluso: We dont know for sure yet. But we detected double-stranded RNA, which should only be present if the virus was moving through its lifecycle and replicating.
Peluso: One reason might be that the virus is in pockets cordoned off from the immune system. For example, immune cells might have walled it off as they worked to contain it. Another possibility is that it hides out in areas that are tougher to reach, like the nervous system. A third possibility is that the virus could evolve after infection so that the immune response is no longer effective against it.
You can imagine all sorts of scenarios. We dont know which one is true yet. But this is a major lead that we are chasing down.
Peluso: Not getting COVID in the first place is the best strategy, but thats easier said than done. Im still quite diligent about masking and vaccination because studies have shown that being up to date with your vaccine when you get COVID-19 can reduce your risk of developing long COVID.
We dont yet know if taking Paxlovid or an antiviral will reduce your risk of long COVID, but it could help you and is worth discussing with your doctor.
LOS ANGELES The risk of developing long COVID enduring, sometimes punishing symptoms that linger well after a coronavirus infection has decreased since the start of the pandemic, a new study found, with the drop particularly evident among those who are vaccinated.
But the dip does not mean the risk of developing long COVID has vanished. And given the rise in new infections, particularly during periods like now, when data indicate transmission is elevated, even a lower rate of prevalence means many Americans risk developing symptoms that can last months or years after their initial infection clears.
We have people in the clinic here with long COVID, and theyre significantly affected, and some of them are profoundly disabled, said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, chief of research and development at the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System in Missouri.
The study, published July 17 in the New England Journal of Medicine found that 10.4% of people who were infected early in the pandemic suffered from long COVID symptoms a year after their acute infection.
But during the omicron era, which began in mid-December 2021 when that variant became the dominant version of the coronavirus circulating worldwide, 3.5% of vaccinated people suffered from long COVID a year after their infection, as did 7.8% of unvaccinated people.
Its good news, said Al-Aly, a co-author of the study. Long COVID is on the descent. Its declining and has gone down over the course of the pandemic.
But its still a concern that long COVID rates remain as high as they are, Al-Aly said, especially as COVID is still affecting millions of people.
Three-point-five-percent is not zero, Al-Aly said. Thats still three to four individuals out of 100 of a disease that could be, in some instances, devastating.
The study was based on health records held by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which had data on more than 441,000 veterans who were infected with the coronavirus between March 1, 2020, and Jan. 31, 2022, and monitored for a year after their infection to track whether they experienced long COVID. The other co-authors are Yan Xie and Taeyoung Choi, who are also affiliated with the VA St. Louis Health Care System.
Whenever someone is infected with the coronavirus, there is a chance they will develop long COVID a catchall term used to describe a wide array of serious symptoms that can result in chronic disability, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some individuals have suffered from long COVID continuously since they were infected in the pandemics earlier days, while others have seen their symptoms resolve within months.
Long COVID symptoms include fatigue that interferes with daily life, brain fog and post-exertional malaise, in which symptoms worsen with physical or mental effort. Long COVID can also cause a fast-beating or pounding heart, dizziness when you stand up, depression and anxiety.
Millions of American adults and children have suffered or are still suffering from long COVID.
There are a few potential reasons why long COVID is rarer than it once was.
First, the coronavirus officially known as SARS-CoV-2 has changed significantly since it was first identified in December 2019.
We still call it COVID, but in truth, COVID has really shifted shapes on us, like, multiple times, Al-Aly said.
That would explain why the risk has actually declined even among unvaccinated individuals, Al-Aly said. So even without being touched by vaccines, just the virus itself has mellowed over time.
But as the study found, getting vaccinated did further reduce the risk of developing long COVID.
Vaccines do two things: They first reduce the severity of infection, Al-Aly said.
Second, they actually help your immune system get rid of the virus faster, Al-Aly said. They enhance the ability of the immune system to clear the virus and so there is less virus to wreak havoc on organs and bodily systems.
One leading theory of the root cause of long COVID is that the coronavirus persists in the body long after an acute infection is over, Al-Aly said. So, if getting a vaccine helps the immune system get rid of the virus faster, that could lessen the chance of developing the syndrome.
We know vaccine immunity wanes with time, Al-Aly said. Definitely keep up to date on your vaccination.
The severity of long COVID varies from person to person. Some might experience mild cognitive dysfunction or fatigue, but can still accomplish daily tasks like taking their children to school or walking the dog. Others can suffer such debilitating fatigue that theyre really, really, really profoundly disabled by it they cannot get out of bed they cannot literally perform their activities of daily living, Al-Aly said.
Long COVID can emerge, persist, resolve and reemerge over a period of weeks or months, according to the CDC.
There are other data suggesting that long COVIDs incidence has declined since earlier in the pandemic. Based on survey data, the prevalence of long COVID among U.S. adults was 7.5% in early June 2022, but had decreased to roughly 6% in early January 2023, according to a report published last summer by the CDC. Since then, the prevalence remained unchanged to mid-June 2023, shortly before that report was published.
About 1 in 4 adults who reported having long COVID when surveyed said they had significant limitations on their typical activities highlighting the importance of COVID prevention, including staying up to date with recommended COVID-19 vaccination, the report said.
COVID and long COVID remain a more significant public health threat than the flu. People sometimes get long-term complications after battling the flu, Al-Aly said, but there are definitely a whole lot more COVID cases than the flu. So youre much more likely to get COVID than the flu.
Even at this point, more people are dying from and being hospitalized with COVID than the flu, Al-Aly said. The CDC estimates that there have been at least 25,000 flu deaths nationally since the start of October, compared with at least 46,000 COVID-19 deaths reported over the same period. Updated death estimates for the past flu season will be available this autumn.
Besides getting vaccinated, other ways to help avoid long COVID include testing when youre sick to see if you have COVID. A confirmed diagnosis can help higher-risk people get a prescription for Paxlovid, antiviral pills that can help lessen the severity of infections and potentially reducing the risk of long COVID, Al-Aly said.
Other steps include wearing a mask in higher-risk situations. Al-Aly said he wears an N95 mask on planes, and masks strategically in higher-risk settings. Hes also more on guard about masking when theres an uptick in COVID, as there is now nationally. And dining at restaurants outdoors remains less risky than dining indoors.
COVID-19 is back in Santa Barbara by all accounts. The poop data is up, and urgent care centers are seeing a lot of cases.
Weve had a pretty busy summer so far, said Dr. Alex Leasure, the medical director at Sansum Clinic Urgent Care. People traveling, coming back, and feeling sick is a really common story I get, he said. Thats to be expected when people travel away from the circle of their life at home and encounter hundreds of new people, and new viruses, often in confined spaces, Leasure explained.
Across California, positive tests were up 12.8 percent during the week of July 15. Thats 1.9 percent more than the previous week, and its also higher than the mid-winter peak of 11.6 percent on January 4. The disease count began to rise in April after a COVID positivity low of 1.9 percent. Data for Santa Barbara County is not available, as individual counties stopped collecting info a couple of years ago, but everyones poop provides clues. The Cal-SuWers network surveils wastewater statewide for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
As far back as the 1940s, sewer water has been examined for disease. It was polio then, as it is in Gaza today, but for local health departments, wastewater displays COVID-19 virus even before people show symptoms. At Santa Barbaras El Estero Wastewater Treatment Plant, the concentration of virus was 0.000597 on July 18, the latest date available, compared to 0.000108 in mid-April. The poop count peaked this year on January 2 at 0.001814.
COVID tends to present as any of a set of symptoms or a weird combination of them, Dr. Leasure said. COVID symptoms are highly variable, but typically they start as a sore throat or a cough, or the person feels tired. If a person is healthy and relatively young, COVID can be like a mild cold. Symptoms can be treated like a cold, with rest, lots of liquids, and over-the-counter medicines if needed.
The severity of the disease really depends on peoples age and comorbidities, or if they have chronic conditions like kidney disease, need dialysis, have had an organ transplant. They could become quite sick, from any virus, COVID among them, said Leasure, who is a family doctor by training, and sees patients young and old and in between. Paxlovid, the drug President Biden took to recover from COVID, is only available by prescription, as it can interact negatively with other medications.
Leasure will often test patients for COVID because the symptoms are so varied. Sansum uses a nucleic acid amplification test, which duplicates the genetic material and then looks for a certain signal for SARS-CoV-2. Home tests work well as long as the sample contains a good amount of mucus, he said, and the test has not expired.
As far as returning to work or a normal routine, Leasure said it depended on your job. If you work at an elder-care facility, you want to stay home for five days and then wear a mask for five days, he recommended as the simplest way to remember quarantine guidance. You want to avoid exposing people at high risk, including newborn babies. If youve tested positive and youre going to see your 98-year-old mom, you should wait 10 days after the positive test even if your symptoms are better.
In fact, people are often aware of this, especially if they have elderly parents. This might be the only bright side to the horrible pandemic we had, in which so many people died, Leasure said. People are more cognizant of not sharing viruses.
The best way for people to lower their risk of severe illness from COVID is to stay up to date with the latest COVID-19 vaccines. Updated 20242025 vaccines are expected to be available in fall 2024 as early as this August. For more information, see the CDCs page on COVID-19 vaccines.
CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) A summer wave of Covid is sweeping the U.S. with a new, highly contagious variant fueling the surge.
Three new variants of COVID, KP.2, KP.3, and LB.1 are spreading across the United States and as of right now, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Massachusetts is considered to have a high level of infection. There are 21 states considered to have very high levels of Covid, including Connecticut and New Hampshire.
Symptoms of Covid are generally also the same as flu-like symptoms including fevers, coughs, aches and pains, or fatigue. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, you are encouraged to get tested. People who test positive do not need to isolate for five days and since the virus has been around for a few years, there are now treatments for the virus either orally or through an IV.
If you are older or immuno-compromised, it is encouraged you possibly think about masking, less gathering of large numbers of people and doctors also encourage people to keep up with the vaccinations.
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
Five players on Australia's women's water polo team for the Paris Olympics tested positive for COVID-19 this week. Paris is the first Olympics since the Tokyo Summer Games in 2021 and Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022 were staged in COVID bubbles with rigorous testing protocols.Video above: A look at what it's like getting around Paris ahead of the 2024 OlympicsSo, what are the protocols for positive tests at the Games this year? A Paris 2024 spokesperson told CNN that the protocols recommend mask-wearing for people who test positive.We regularly remind athletes and all other Games stakeholders of the good practices to adopt should they experience any respiratory symptoms: wearing a mask in the presence of others, limiting contacts and washing hands regularly with soap and water or using hand sanitiser, the statement says.Hand sanitiser stations can be found at all the residential areas and also the restaurant of the Olympic Village, according to the statement. We continue to carefully monitor the public health situation in France, in conjunction with the relevant government ministry.Many of the national teams also may have their own safety protocols to protect their athletes, said Lucia Mullen, an associate scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and a member of the World Health Organizations mass gathering expert group, which regularly works on these issues.For the COVID-19 cases, as with other respiratory diseases and also other gastrointestinal diseases, they will really promote hand hygiene and other basic hygiene measures so, keeping distance, reporting to the clinics to get tested if you are feeling unwell and certainly if youre displaying symptoms, Mullen said. Then, of course, isolating if you do test positive.The Australian water polo team is treating COVID-19 no differently than any other respiratory illness, said Anna Meares, the chef de mission for the Australian Olympic team.This is a high-performance environment, so we are being diligent, Meares said at a news conference Tuesday when the teams first COVID-19 case was announced.Were also having the fellow teammates wear masks and just adhere to social distancing measures as well meeting outside, those sorts of things, she said.She added that, when respiratory illnesses occur, the person is isolated until their symptoms subside and testing comes back clear.But I need to emphasize that we are treating COVID no differently to other bugs like the flu. This is not Tokyo, Meares said, referring to the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games, which were delayed by a year due to the pandemic and held without in-person spectators.Although the world is no longer under a public health emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Olympic Games come as a wave of COVID-19 infections has hit the United States. Even President Joe Biden recently tested positive for the disease.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that, if you test positive for COVID-19, you stay home until you are fever-free without the help of fever-reducing medications for at least 24 hours and your symptoms have been improving for 24 hours. It then recommends wearing a mask around other people for the next five days.Were in a time period where COVID is still circulating. We are seeing increases of cases again, Mullen said.And were probably underreporting levels. A lot of countries are reducing their surveillance measures, she added. We are expecting that there will be some people traveling to the Games whether its spectators or just to go visit Paris that may not know they have COVID and be sick, and of course, spread it on to others.The French capital is expected to welcome about 15 million tourists while it hosts the Olympic Games.Separate public health guidance for travelers attending the 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games was released last week by WHO, the French Ministry of Health and Prevention, Sant publique France and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.The guidance recommends checking your vaccination status against common infectious diseases including measles, whooping cough, polio and COVID-19.Cases of measles are on the rise worldwide, including in Europe and in France, the guidance notes. Attending a mass gathering event increases your chances of being exposed to respiratory diseases, including whooping cough and COVID-19. If you have symptoms, such as a cough, fever or sore throat, stay at home or in your hotel if possible and consider wearing a mask when you leave your hotel or home.
Five players on Australia's women's water polo team for the Paris Olympics tested positive for COVID-19 this week.
Paris is the first Olympics since the Tokyo Summer Games in 2021 and Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022 were staged in COVID bubbles with rigorous testing protocols.
Video above: A look at what it's like getting around Paris ahead of the 2024 Olympics
So, what are the protocols for positive tests at the Games this year?
A Paris 2024 spokesperson told CNN that the protocols recommend mask-wearing for people who test positive.
We regularly remind athletes and all other Games stakeholders of the good practices to adopt should they experience any respiratory symptoms: wearing a mask in the presence of others, limiting contacts and washing hands regularly with soap and water or using hand sanitiser, the statement says.
Hand sanitiser stations can be found at all the residential areas and also the restaurant of the Olympic Village, according to the statement. We continue to carefully monitor the public health situation in France, in conjunction with the relevant government ministry.
Many of the national teams also may have their own safety protocols to protect their athletes, said Lucia Mullen, an associate scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and a member of the World Health Organizations mass gathering expert group, which regularly works on these issues.
For the COVID-19 cases, as with other respiratory diseases and also other gastrointestinal diseases, they will really promote hand hygiene and other basic hygiene measures so, keeping distance, reporting to the clinics to get tested if you are feeling unwell and certainly if youre displaying symptoms, Mullen said. Then, of course, isolating if you do test positive.
The Australian water polo team is treating COVID-19 no differently than any other respiratory illness, said Anna Meares, the chef de mission for the Australian Olympic team.
This is a high-performance environment, so we are being diligent, Meares said at a news conference Tuesday when the teams first COVID-19 case was announced.
Were also having the fellow teammates wear masks and just adhere to social distancing measures as well meeting outside, those sorts of things, she said.
She added that, when respiratory illnesses occur, the person is isolated until their symptoms subside and testing comes back clear.
But I need to emphasize that we are treating COVID no differently to other bugs like the flu. This is not Tokyo, Meares said, referring to the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games, which were delayed by a year due to the pandemic and held without in-person spectators.
Although the world is no longer under a public health emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Olympic Games come as a wave of COVID-19 infections has hit the United States. Even President Joe Biden recently tested positive for the disease.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that, if you test positive for COVID-19, you stay home until you are fever-free without the help of fever-reducing medications for at least 24 hours and your symptoms have been improving for 24 hours. It then recommends wearing a mask around other people for the next five days.
Were in a time period where COVID is still circulating. We are seeing increases of cases again, Mullen said.
And were probably underreporting levels. A lot of countries are reducing their surveillance measures, she added. We are expecting that there will be some people traveling to the Games whether its spectators or just to go visit Paris that may not know they have COVID and be sick, and of course, spread it on to others.
The French capital is expected to welcome about 15 million tourists while it hosts the Olympic Games.
Separate public health guidance for travelers attending the 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games was released last week by WHO, the French Ministry of Health and Prevention, Sant publique France and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
The guidance recommends checking your vaccination status against common infectious diseases including measles, whooping cough, polio and COVID-19.
Cases of measles are on the rise worldwide, including in Europe and in France, the guidance notes. Attending a mass gathering event increases your chances of being exposed to respiratory diseases, including whooping cough and COVID-19. If you have symptoms, such as a cough, fever or sore throat, stay at home or in your hotel if possible and consider wearing a mask when you leave your hotel or home.
Sophia Cannonier and her husband, Michael Watson (File photograph by Akil Simmons)
A couple vowed to appeal their conviction for breaking Covid-19 emergency regulations all the way to the top after being found guilty in Magistrates Court yesterday.
Sophia Cannonier and Michael Watson, who were accused of breaching the islands public safety rules in July 2021, maintained that their challenge to the law made them a voice for others they said were treated unfairly under restrictions imposed during the pandemic.
The two refused to follow the Governments mandatory hotel quarantine for people who were not vaccinated against the infection after returning from a trip to Britain.
The couple argued that they had already developed a natural immunity to Covid-19 after contracting the illness.
Their trial sought to challenge the legitimacy of vaccination-based restrictions with a battery of medical evidence.
The case, argued by defence lawyer Marc Daniels, was embraced by opponents of the emergency measures rolled out by the Government during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo delivered his judgment and ordered social inquiry reports on Cannonier and Watson ahead of sentencing, which is likely to take place in September.
Sophia Cannonier, centre, with a hat and dressed in light blue, and Michael Watson, to the immediate right of her, with supporters outside Magistrates' Court (Photograph by Jonathan Bell)
Supporters outside the court, who said they were denied entry to the building when they arrived to attend the hearing, applauded the couples vow to fight on.
There was repeated criticism of the long wait to resolve the case, which Mr Tokunbo addressed in his written judgment.
He said that the glaring delay between the end of the hearing of evidence and the delivery of judgment in this case calls for some explanation.
He explained that an administrative dilemma arose after the final hearing and the filing of the defences written submissions, when it became clear that his judgment could not be delivered before his retirement in September last year.
The magistrate said that despite raising the issue with the appropriate administrative authority, there was no known action taken.
Mr Tokunbo said that he had been invited from retirement in May to prepare judgment.
Cannonier and Watson were accused of refusing to comply with a requirement to quarantine and failure to complete travel authorisation forms on July 11, 2021.
Both were also charged with breaking a quarantine order on July 20 by leaving their Devonshire home, with Cannonier further accused of allowing unauthorised people to visit a place of quarantine.
Alan Richards, for the Crown, brought evidence from 14 witnesses during the trial.
The couple called evidence from their family doctor, Henry Dowling, along with an expert witness from overseas, Christine Parks, supported by their medical records showing antibodies against the virus.
They maintained that Bermudas regulations discriminated against unvaccinated people and argued that natural immunity provided by antibodies was equal to or better than the protection conferred by vaccination.
The couple relied on a reasonable excuse defence to the charges, but the prosecution called their evidence irrelevant.
In his judgment, Mr Tokunbo agreed, ruling that it was not relevant to any of the charges they face.
He found: The law at the time required a set protocol/regime for vaccinated persons and another for unvaccinated.
It did not include antibody status or natural immunity.
The magistrate also found that both defendants were fully aware of the rules at the time, with Cannonier stating during cross-examination that quarantine was an unfair discrimination.
Mr Tokunbo noted that Watson had previously complied with quarantine, along with his two children, but told the court that on returning that July, I had in mind not to put the children through that again.
The magistrate said that both sought exceptional treatment after landing in Bermuda and that it is clear that the defendants were on a campaign, with the press and supporters waiting at LF Wade International Airport.
Mr Tokunbo said Cannonier made reference during the couples joint trial to civil disobedience.
He said a health officer, accompanied by police, went to the couples home on July 11 to arrest them for violating health restrictions.
Mr Tokunbo added: But this was eventually aborted due to non-co-operation of the defendants, the aggressive crowd present in support of the defendants, discussions with their counsel and consideration of the defendants young children.
The two were allowed to quarantine at home with police guards stationed on the property.
Cannonier refused to accept a letter from health officials and made no effort to discover the contents, Mr Tokunbo found.
The magistrate found they then wilfully used their court bail conditions as an excuse to breach their 14-day quarantine and leave home that July 20.
Juan Wolffe, then the senior magistrate, had ordered the two to remain at home until they received a clear test on July 19 as part of bail, highlighting that their mandatory quarantine by health officials was a wholly separate matter, since the courts had no legal power to impose a quarantine.
Mr Tokunbo ruled the couple could not reasonably believe, or have reasonable excuse to believe, that the court was varying their 14-day home quarantine when bail was granted.
He added: I am satisfied that they were not operating under any honest, mistaken belief or ignorance of the law.
Rather, they sought to clearly manipulate their legal predicament (home quarantine/court bail) to suit their own aims or objectives (ie, civil disobedience).
He noted Cannonier had admitted bringing visitors to the house on July 20, while still under quarantine.
Mr Tokunbo found: Finally, the defendants raise a defence referred to as a Hail Mary pass.
As I understand it, this asserts that the defendants, upon leaving the Bermuda airport, were no longer travellers and therefore not subject to the Quarantine (Covid-19) (No 3) Order 2020.
The most I will say is that there is no legal or factual foundation cited to support this and the court accordingly disregards it.
Cannonier told The Royal Gazette: Theres a lot of pressure on them to toe the line its a global situation. But its not over.
We will take it all the way to the top. I am a fighter.
Watson said the case had been consistently in the background for the couple.
He said: There isnt a day that goes by that we arent discussing aspects of it. But in spite of all this going on, we have thrived in other aspects of our lives.
Court has not stopped us from living. But we also recognise we are the voice for many people who could not say something.
Its important that we continue.
It is The Royal Gazettes policy not to allow comments on stories regarding criminal court cases. This is to prevent any statements being published that may jeopardise the outcome of that case
UPDATE: this article has been updated with more information and comments
BOSTON - The number of COVID cases is spiking across the country, including here in Massachusetts, and the virus just isn't going away.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 40 states are reporting high COVID activity levels, including most of New England. Emergency room visits are at their highest for the coronavirus since February, and we're definitely seeing an uptick in cases in my urgent care clinic.
Many of you will ask - why now?
The coronavirus continues to mutate in an effort to evade our immune systems, so even if you get infected, after about three months your immunity to the virus begins to fade. That said, people who have some natural immunity from prior infection and those who stay up-to-date with their boosters are much less likely to get severely ill and wind up in the hospital or worse.
So what do you do if you get sick?
Current guidelines are to isolate yourself from others until you are fever-free for at least 24 hours without the help of fever-reducing medications and until your symptoms have improved. But even if you meet those criteria, you should continue to wear a mask for at least another five days to protect others.
People who are at high risk of complications if they get infected should wear a high-quality mask in public to reduce their chances of catching the virus.
Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.
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By Josephine Franks, News reporter @jos_franks
Tuesday 23 July 2024 14:56, UK
When Joe Biden announced he had tested positive for COVID last week, he joined the ranks of people falling sick this summer.
It seems everyone knows someone who is ill - and experts say the Euros could have had an impact.
But what do we know about case numbers, new variants - and what the symptoms are to watch out for?
What do we know about summer case numbers?
It is difficult to track COVID waves, assess the severity of different variants, and know how effective vaccines are because COVID surveillance is much less intensive than it used to be, Mark Woolhouse, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, says.
Despite that, there was a "widespread impression" of a summer wave, likely heightened by people mixing to watch the football, he says.
"The waves continue to be driven by a combination of new variants and a partial waning immunity to infection," he adds.
Hospital admissions with COVID have remained high for several weeks, data from the UK Health Security Agency shows.
In the week to 14 July, people admitted to hospital testing positive for COVID increased slightly to 4.35 per 100,000 compared with 3.72 per 100,000 the week before.
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Wastewater testing no longer takes place in England, but the data from Scotland can give insight into what's happening south of the border.
The latest data published by Public Health Scotland (PHS) for the week ending 7 July indicated there were 1,245 COVID cases in Scotland.
Dr Kimberly Marsh told BBC Radio Scotland the provisional data for the week ending 14 July showed the number of cases had fallen to 1,130, one of "some early signals that this wave may have peaked".
Professor Christina Pagel, member of the Independent Sage group and director of operational research at University College London, says while Scotland and England can have "different dynamics", July's decrease in cases in Scotland "suggests prevalence is on its way down".
What variants are circulating?
The newest group of COVID variants is known collectively as FLiRT.
These variants are descendants of JN.1, which traces back to Omicron.
The FLiRT variants have the same set of mutations that could make it easier for the virus to bypass protection from vaccines or prior infections.
However, the UKHSA says there is currently no evidence these variants are more severe than others in circulation.
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What are the symptoms to be aware of?
The official list of COVID symptoms has not changed, and includes:
a high temperature or shivering a new, continuous cough a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste shortness of breath feeling tired or exhausted an aching body a headache a sore throat a blocked or runny nose loss of appetite diarrhoea feeling sick or being sick.
Dr Paul Sax, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, tells Sky News' US partner NBC News that people testing positive in the summer wave are displaying symptoms across the spectrum.
"Some people have a very classic sore throat, runny nose, cough, and low-grade fever," he says.
"In others, it's mostly nausea and diarrhoea with very minimal respiratory symptoms. It can vary from A to Z and beyond."
Read more: UK pandemic preparation laid bare in COVID inquiry Long COVID leaves distinctive signs in blood
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Can you get a vaccine?
The NHS's spring booster programme closed at the end of June.
That means the only way to get a COVID vaccine is to pay for it privately.
Many pharmacies offer COVID vaccines to people aged 12 and over, with the cost varying between 45 and 99.
What's happening around the world?
In the US, infections are rising in 42 states, according to data from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Wastewater data also shows high levels of COVID across the country.
COVID cases have also risen in other parts of Europe, with the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention reporting higher rates in some countries, although COVID-related hospital admissions and deaths "remain low".
For most healthy adults, a COVID infection means a few rough weeks of symptoms before recovery. But in at least 10% of all COVID cases, a few weeks stretches into months or years. Long COVID symptoms can make a return to normal life feel impossible. People who were once serious athletes cant jog around the block, and executives who led companies cant remember what they were doing 10 minutes ago.
Jeanette Brown, MD, PhD, who leads the Long COVID Clinic at University of Utah Health, says much has been learned since the first patients came forward with long COVID symptoms. But, she adds, research continues into what groups are most at risk for long COVID, how to treat it, and the range of symptoms and recovery.
