The 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games are set to begin this week. However, the ongoing Delta variant and growing COVID concerns around the world are causing trepidation around the Olympics, masks, and our rapid return to normalcy.
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Let’s take a closer look at where we are with the original COVID virus, the new Delta variant, vaccinations, and the possibility that we’re not quite out of the danger zone just yet.
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THE OLYMPIC GAMES
The Tokyo Olympic Games were originally scheduled for the Summer of 2020 — until the coronavirus pandemic completely shut down the entire world and the games to boot. Organizers quickly rescheduled the games for the Summer of 2021, except Tokyo soon became a hotbed of viral contagion with hoards of unvaccinated citizens and COVID running rampant through all of Japan.
As the start of the games approached, organizers decided to host the games without any spectators in the stands. Then they decided to allow limited spectators. Then, they went back to the concept of zero spectators.
Now, with the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games set to happen this week, the news out of Tokyo is not good. At least 2 athletes inside the tightly controlled and COVID-tested Olympic Village have tested positive for the coronavirus. NBA star Bradley Beal of Team USA was placed in COVID protocol and forced to withdraw from the games. Then, the infection rate began to rise among Olympic staff and officials. In fact, with tens of thousands of participants from more than 200 countries entering a country where the local population vaccination rate is extremely low and the more-contagious Delta variant is spreading (while Japanese residents remain fearful of visitors bringing a wave of the virus into their land), a stream of positive cases is quickly demonstrating how difficult it will be to stage one of the world’s largest events during a global pandemic.
Should the Olympic Games have been canceled altogether? Is a global competition in the midst of a global pandemic worth the risk to health and lives — particularly with the new Delta variant running wild? Is the 19th Century concept of the Olympic Games even relevant still in the 21st Century?
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LOS ANGELES
When the COVID pandemic hit in March of 2020, Los Angeles responsibly shut down just like the rest of the world. However, they rapidly reopened the city 2 months later for the sake of their economy — a move that proved deadly, saw a rise in hospitalizations and deaths, and caused LA to become the US epicenter of the coronavirus.
Los Angeles and the entire State of California paid a huge price for attempting to return to normal far too soon. As a precaution, they were among the last to reopen businesses and allow the removal of masks by the fully vaccinated as the rest of the country lifted COVID restrictions over the past month.
However, the Delta variant has created a resurgence of the virus in LA county and forced officials to make a difficult decision: put the masks back on!
On Sunday, LA County became the first major US county to revert to requiring masks for all people indoors in public spaces.
“When you look back at the last 7 days, obviously a whole lot has changed,” Hilda L. Solis, chairwoman of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors said. “I am not pleased that we have to go back to using the mask in this matter, but it’s going to save lives,” she added.
With COVID resurging just as we’re all becoming comfortable with going back to our lives, will the LA mask mandate become the norm in New York, Chicago, and other major cities across the country?
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BACK TO NORMAL?
Around the world, people are booking vacations, traveling on planes, dining in restaurants, going into movie theaters, and visiting and hugging their families and friends. However, the Delta variant is poised to poo-poo all of our summer “back to normal” plans.
The fully vaccinated (and those whose vaccine status is unknown) have taken off the masks. Nobody is socially distancing any longer. Restaurants have resumed indoor dining and close seating. Airlines are back to filling the middle seats. Broadway shows in New York City are about to reopen at full capacity within the coming weeks.
Except, what do we do if/when people start getting sick again and dropping like flies? How do we respond if restaurants and planes become cesspools of the Delta variant? Will the shows still go on if COVID starts to spread throughout the Broadway theater community? After all, the vaccines are not foolproof and are at best only 95% effective — which means there is still a 5% chance of getting COVID.
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Is the country and possibly the world prepared for the possibility of turning back the clocks, starting from scratch, and shutting down all over again? Or, are all the fears regarding the Delta variant (and any other new variants that may come along) much ado about nothing?
DJ, thank you for this entire post. This is a much needed discussion to have.
I think you’ve asked the most pertinent questions and I’m going to respond to them. But first, I’d like to start by highlight your following statement:
[The fully vaccinated (and those whose vaccine status is unknown) have taken off the masks. Nobody is socially distancing any longer. Restaurants have resumed indoor dining and close seating. Airlines are back to filling the middle seats. Broadway shows in New York City are about to reopen at full capacity within the coming weeks.]