Tag Archives: Covid-19

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Eugène Lapierre Expects To See The Majority Of The Players!

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Tennis players who will participate in the National Bank Open next August will need to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Despite the reluctance of some stars to be inoculated, this decision by the Canadian government does not seem to worry Eugène Lapierre, the director of the Montreal tournament. In Canada, any athlete – professional or amateur – who is not vaccinated against COVID-19 will no longer be able to enter the country to compete in a competition as of January 15, recently informed the federal Minister of Public Safety, Marco. Mendicino.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Tennis Canada President and CEO Michael Downey confirmed that the National Bank Open will surely be no exception, “but that the situation could still change by August. It’s hard to say nine months into the tournament which players who haven’t been inoculated might have to give up on participating. According to the American network CNN, in October, 30% of ATP and WTA athletes who appear in the world’s top 100 had not been adequately vaccinated. 

The two circuits did not respond to the Journal on Tuesday when contacted to find out if more recent data existed. But Craig Tiley, president of the Australian Tennis Federation, said last week that he expected 95% of players to be in time for the Australian Open, which will be held in January. 

The Vagueness Around “Djoko”

The organizers of the first Grand Slam round of the season have already announced that all athletes taking part in the tournament will need to be vaccinated against the virus. 

This decision calls in particular into question the participation of the reigning champion, the Serbian Novak Djokovic. The world number 1 has so far refused to say if he had been vaccinated. There has been a lot of speculation surrounding Novak,” Tiley said, in mid-November. He says his decision is a private matter. ” 

Hardheads

Eugène Lapierre was rather encouraged on Tuesday by the rapid increase in the vaccination rate among players. The Quebec metropolis will receive the best ATP snowshoes from August 5 to 14.  Maybe some will have a hard head until the end,” he noted. We will have a better idea of ​​who will be vaccinated during the Australian Open. I think the majority of the players will be there. 

Besides Djokovic, Russian Daniil Medvedev and Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas recently expressed reluctance to be vaccinated against COVID-19. But the number 2 and 4 in the world have confirmed their participation in the Australian Open, suggesting they have been vaccinated or will be in time for the tournament. 

Eugenie Bouchard is not expected to return to competition at the Australian Open, the “aggressive” goal she set for herself in August, two and a half months after undergoing shoulder surgery. 

The Quebecer, injured in March in Monterrey, however, obtained the green light from the doctors on Monday to resume training on the ground. Australia, it seems too tight to me, raised Tuesday Sylvain Bruneau, the head of the women’s section at Tennis Canada. But I have spoken to him and the doctors are very satisfied with his rehabilitation. “

After these many weeks of inactivity, Eugenie fell back to 250th rank after successfully earlier this year to rise near the top 100. 

Fatigue

Bianca Andreescu (46th worldwide) will not in Melbourne for the first major of 2022. The Canadian announced Monday will take a break to relax. 

If Tennis Canada drew up a positive assessment of the performance of its players on Tuesday, especially in Grand Slam tournaments, the organization also noted some fatigue. 

The golf Leylah Fernandez (24th ) to the final of the US Open, and the presence in the semifinals of Felix Auger-Aliassime (11th in New York) and Denis Shapovalov (14th, at Wimbledon) were the highlights of the singles season. 

But besides Andreescu, Shapovalov also mentioned at the end of the year “needing rest”. Several players from other countries have said they are tired due to the restrictions surrounding the pandemic.

“Denis wanted to give himself time to get off to a good start because he maybe arrived a little burned out towards the end,” explained Guillaume Marx, Performance Manager at Tennis Canada. 

The Covid-19 Riots: Why Are They Happening In Europe?

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But this week saw a series of riots in cities across the old continent, as protests against the handling of the pandemic saw cars set on fire and riot police deployed against protesters.

What Is Happening In Europe?

Over the weekend, violent protests took place in the streets of several countries.

In the Netherlands, demonstrators clashed with police, throwing stones, throwing fireworks and setting vehicles on fire.

Authorities responded by using batons, dogs, horses, water cannons and even shooting.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte called the repeated nights of unrest “sheer violence”.

In Belgium, large protest marches turned violent: police vehicles were ransacked and demonstrators were greeted with tear gas and water cannons.

On Saturday, 40,000 people marched through the streets of Austria’s capital, Vienna, in a largely peaceful protest organized by the far-right Freedom Party.

Demonstrations also took place in Italy, Denmark and Croatia.

Why Are People Angry?

The Netherlands imposed a three-week partial lockdown after seeing a record spike in Covid cases. Bars and restaurants are due to close earlier, and crowds have been banned from sporting events.

Rules for face masks have been tightened in Belgium, including in places such as restaurants, where Covid passes are already required, and most people will need to work from home four days a week until mid -December.

Similar measures have been or are about to be introduced in other countries in the region, such as Germany, Greece, and the Czech Republic.

However, it is in Austria that the measures are the most stringent.

In addition to a full nationwide lockdown – which forces people to stay at home except for essential reasons – Austria has become the first European country to make Covid vaccination a legal obligation, with the law due to come into force in February.

Despite strong opposition, Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said the measures were necessary due to opposition to vaccination.

“Whipped up by radical anti-vaxxers, by fake news, too many of us haven’t been vaccinated,” he said.

“The result is overloaded intensive care units and enormous suffering.

Why Are These Restrictions Occurring Now?

These new rules follow a dramatic increase in Covid cases in the region.

Despite a high percentage of the population fully vaccinated compared to many parts of the world, Europe has seen the number of people testing positive for the coronavirus skyrocket in recent weeks.

In Germany and the Netherlands, the number of weekly cases has quadrupled since last month and in Austria it is five times higher.

The World Health Organization’s regional director for Europe, Dr Hans Kluge, told the BBC that 500,000 more deaths could be recorded by March if urgent action is not taken and it s is said to be “very worried”.

He supports most of the measures put in place by European countries but said compulsory vaccination measures, such as those planned in Austria, should be seen as a “last resort”. He wants a “legal and societal debate” to take place on this issue.

Dr. Kluge has advocated for the wearing of a mask and supported the Covid pass rules, which require people going to restaurants, gyms, and other similar places to be able to prove that they have been vaccinated.

Why Have The Cases Increased So Sharply?

It seems to be a combination of reasons in different countries.

Dr Kluge said factors such as the winter season, insufficient vaccine coverage, and the regional predominance of the more transmissible Delta variant of Covid-19 were behind the spread.

Many European countries relaxed Covid-related restrictions, such as social distancing and mask-wearing rules, earlier this year, as the number of cases declined and vaccination levels rose.

But even among those vaccinated, the Delta variant has been shown to still be able to spread rapidly when people return to situations where they are in close contact with each other with fewer restrictions in place.

Is The Number Of Deaths From Covid-19 Increasing As Quickly?

There seems to be some good news, at least.

Vaccines seem to prevent people from getting seriously ill and dying.

At the start of the pandemic, the spikes in cases were accompanied by a rapid increase in the number of deaths, but since the introduction of the vaccine, the number of deaths has fallen far below the number of people infected.

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