Speaking at an International Olympic Committee Meeting in Tokyo Wednesday, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus shared his criteria for “the mark of success” when it comes to managing COVID-19 at the delayed 2020 Olympic Games.
“The mark of success in the coming fortnight is not zero cases and I know that some cases have already been detected,” Ghebreyesus said. “The mark of success is making sure that any cases are identified, isolated, traced and cared for as quickly as possible. And onward transmission is interrupted. That is the mark of success for every country.”
Cases in Japan related to the Games were up to 79 as of Wednesday. Other athletes have tested positive at home and are now unable to travel.
Ghebreyesus acknowledged holding the games during a state of emergency does come with risk, but followed that up with, “there is no zero-risk in life. There is only more risk or less risk.”
Tedros praised both the Tokyo Organising Committee and the Japanese government for their precautions and sacrifices ahead of the Games.
“Although COVID-19 might have postponed the Games, it has not defeated them,” he said.
While he complimented Olympic organizers, he had a less positive sentiment for the rest of the world.
“The pandemic is a test and the world is failing,” Ghebreyesus said. “More than four million people have died and more continue to die. Already this year, the number of deaths is more than double last year’s total. In the time it takes me to make these remarks, more than 100 people will lose their lives to COVID-19. And by the time the Olympic flame is extinguished on the 8th of August, more than 100,000 more people will perish.”
Ghebreyesus went onto talk about “the global failure to share vaccines, tests and treatments,” saying it “is fueling a two-track pandemic.”
“The haves are opening up while the have-nots are locking down,” Ghebreyesus said. “This is not just a moral outrage. It’s also epidemiologically and economically self-defeating. The longer this discrepancy persists, the longer the pandemic will drag on, and so will the social and economic turmoil it brings.”
He called upon all nations to vaccinate 70 percent of the world by the middle of next year.