COVID-positive Olympians can compete under Paris Games protocols

PARIS (TND) — Paris Olympics protocols are allowing athletes to compete even after testing positive for COVID-19, a stark contrast to just a few years ago on the world stage.

At least 40 Olympic athletes have tested positive for COVID-19 over the last two weeks, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced Tuesday. Most notably, Team USA sprinter Noah Lyles revealed Thursday he currently has the virus, just moments after taking the bronze medal in the men’s 200-meter final.

The news follows the Paris Games dropping most COVID protocols put in place during the 2021 Tokyo Games, according to science magazine Scientific American. Officials are now directed to treat COVID-19 like illnesses such as the common cold or the flu, allowing athletes to determine for themselves how they will respond if infected.

Multiple swimmers competed while testing positive for COVID-19 prior to Lyles’s Thursday race, according to Scientific American. Team Great Britain swimmer Adam Peaty went into isolation last week after earning the silver medal in the 100-meter breaststroke.

Peaty called his week of recovery from COVID-19 “probably the worst week of my life” physically, adding “that’s no exaggeration.”

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Team Germany decathlete Manuel Eitel withdrew from the Paris Games last week after testing positive. The track and field athlete wrote on Instagram he was “devastated” over the move, calling it “beyond any defeat I’ve ever experienced in sport.”

Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist based at WHO, said Thursday those in Paris have still taken steps to prevent the spread of COVID at the Games. She noted more people are now wearing masks than prior to the Tokyo Games.

The Paris Games cases follow a surge in COVID-19 cases worldwide over the last several weeks. In the U.S., COVID test positivity for the week ending June 29 reached 9%, an increase from 0.8% the week prior, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Tuesday’s briefing, Van Kerkhove said the proportion of tests coming back positive in Europe is currently above 20%, with wastewater data suggesting case numbers may be even higher.