Asian Games faces ‘possibility’ of postponement, says official

The 2022 Asian Games in China is facing the "possibility" of being postponed, a senior official told AFP on Thursday, after a rumor that it would be moved to next year.

The Olympic-sized event is scheduled to be held in September in Hangzhou near Shanghai, which is grappling with a major coronavirus emergency.

"No official decision has been taken by the committee until now, but there is a possibility that it will be postponed," said Kuwait's Husain Al-Musallam, director-general of the Olympic Council of Asia, the Games' governing body.

Most international sports events have been on hold in China since the COVID-19 pandemic, although Beijing hosted the Winter Olympics in a strict bio-bubble in February.

Shanghai, China's biggest city, has witnessed the country's worst COVID outbreak in two years, with weeks-long restrictions keeping most of its 25 million inhabitants confined to their homes.

All 56 competition venues for the Games have already been completed, Chinese organizers said this month, promising to publish a virus-control plan that takes its cue from the Winter Olympics.

"We're now just making a few final adjustments and improvements to the facilities," Lu Chunjiang, an official in charge of operations at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre, told state broadcaster CCTV.

Hangzhou, less than 200 kilometers from Shanghai, is scheduled to hold the Games from September 10 to 25, becoming the third Chinese host after Beijing in 1990 and Guangzhou in 2010.

Agence France-Presse

Omicron coronavirus variant ‘not a cause for panic’, says Biden

President Joe Biden on Monday told Americans not to "panic" over the newly identified COVID-19 variant Omicron and said he does not foresee new lockdowns or extending travel restrictions for now.

The virus variant, first detected in South Africa but already appearing in multiple countries, "is a cause for concern, not a cause for panic," Biden said.

He stressed that the United States was in a good position to control Omicron's spread without having to resort to lockdowns or more travel bans beyond restrictions already imposed on eight southern African countries.

"We have more tools today to fight the variant than we've ever had before," he said, adding that his chief medical advisor Anthony Fauci expects current vaccines to work against the new variant, with boosters enhancing protection.

"We'll fight this variant with scientific and knowledgeable actions and speed, not chaos and confusion," Biden said in nationally televised remarks from the White House, flanked by Fauci and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Biden promised a "detailed strategy" for the fight against COVID-19 this winter but signaled that Americans will not be subjected to burdensome measures.

"Not with shutdowns or lockdowns, but with more widespread vaccinations, boosters, testing, and more," he said, specifying that he does not see a need now for ordering vaccine or testing mandates on domestic air travel.

The United States, Canada and the European Union have all severely restricted entry of travelers from South Africa and seven other countries in the region. However, Biden also said "I don't anticipate" more travel bans.

"The degree of the spread impacts on whether or not there's a need for any travel restrictions," he said.

Agence France-Presse