Australian athletes will be banned from supporting their team mates at other Commonwealth Games events at Birmingham due to the risk of COVID-19 transmission, team chef de mission Petria Thomas said.
They will also have to wear face masks when not in their rooms or exercising at the July 28 – Aug. 8 Games as part of team health protocols.
“Our primary focus is that we can get our athletes to the starting line and they are performance ready,” Thomas told News Corp media on Wednesday.
“We have to put these measures in place to minimise the transmission of COVID and other diseases as well.”
COVID continues to disrupt global sport, with a number of swimmers forced to pull out of the recent swimming world championships in Budapest after testing positive.
Around 5,000 athletes from 72 nations and territories are due to compete at Birmingham.
The Office for National Statistics estimated 3.95% of people in England, or one in 25, were COVID positive during the week ending June 29.
Athletes were subject to strict COVID protocols while in a “closed loop” at the Beijing Winter Olympics and also at last year’s summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Unlike the Olympics, athletes will not have to leave Birmingham soon after their events finish.
Thomas said Australia’s athletes would be permitted to stay and support team mates but not at their competition venues.
“There won’t be an opportunity to go and watch other events because unfortunately those seats will be in public spectating areas, which presents a very high risk of COVID-19 transmission,” she added.
Whether you love her or love to hate her, there’s no denying that Kristen Stewart has made a name for herself in Hollywood. She’s come a long way from playing playing Bella Swan in Twilight as, last year, se was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in Spencer. Still, she herself has seemingly remained unchanged by her elevated star status. The actress, known for her social eccentricities, has now opened up about attending public events and how it feels having all those cameras on her.
While speaking with Vulture about her character and involvement in Crimes of the Future and how wild and extrospective the film is, Kristen Stewart touched on how she deals with her fame when attending public events. Apparently, she’s of two minds when it comes to how she must act in those settings, saying:
I’m always torn between wanting to be such an exhibitionist — being out there and open and showing everything about myself — and being protective. To think that you’re misinterpreted is super-narcissistic anyway because everyone is just having their own experience with what you’re putting out there. But I just have a physical aversion that I can’t actually control.
In the past, the actress has made headlines for coming off as awkward or even unfriendly at massive events. Thanks to photographs, she came off as the unsmiling star, though this could be due to the fact that fame was a frightening concept for her. It seems that this apparent misinterpretation of her character could have partially stemmed from the “physical aversion” she has to having so much attention on her.
In the same interview, Kristen Stewart went on to say that she could be having a wonderful time at an event and appear to be miserable or combative to the outside world. For an example, she recalled having her picture taken at the PGAs, where she had a “knee-jerk physical reaction” and looked angry in a photo. Here it is in her own words:
I was at the PGAs, and I was having a great time. Steven Spielberg was behind me! It was a room full of people that I was just like — I was like a kid in a candy store. And then this guy with a camera went like this — [mimics camera in face]. Which is completely normal. I’m an actor, and I’m at an awards show. It’s fine. And my body literally went like this — [raises both middle fingers sarcastically]. I couldn’t understand. I was like, Kristen … But it wasn’t like I was angry that he took my picture. It was just a weird, knee-jerk physical reaction to being looked at in a moment where I wasn’t expecting it.
I’ve got to say that I am a victim of RBF, and I would definitely be one of those people who would appear angry in a photo. Luckily, Kristen Stewart’s less-than-ideal dealings with photographers and such has not kept her from becoming quite the force to be reckoned with in Hollywood.
Kristen Stewart may still be a little unsure about how to present herself at public events and is still uncomfortable around too many cameras. However, the only camera that really matters is the one that she acts in front of or directs behind, and it seems as though she’s great where that is concerned. You’ll be able to check out her out in Crimes of the Future when it opens in theaters on June 3rd.
Days after GOP Reps. Paul Gosar and Marjorie Taylor Greene appeared at an event organized by a white nationalist, Republican party leaders are condemning them for attending.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell released a statement Monday criticizing white supremacist hate.
“There’s no place in the Republican Party for white supremacists or anti-Semitism,” McConnell said in a statement first reported by Politico.
Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters Monday afternoon that he found Greene and Gosar’s attendance “unacceptable.”
McCarthy suggested to reporters that he plans to speak with both Gosar and Greene later this week.
“To me, it was appalling and wrong,” McCarthy told reporters. “There’s no place in our party for any of this.”
“The party should not be associated any time any place with somebody who is anti-Semitic…This is unacceptable,” he added.
McCarthy was in Israel last week with a congressional delegation. He told Punchbowl News that the news of Greene and Gosar’s attendance was particularly upsetting because of his recent visit.
Greene and Gosar have both previously been stripped of their committee assignments for their egregious behavior.
McCarthy, however, has previously said he would restore their assignments if Republicans take back the House in November.
McCarthy told CNN and another reporter outside his office that even though Greene claimed not to know who the event organizer was “with that introduction, you should have walked off stage.”
Shortly before introducing Greene, Nick Fuentes, the white nationalist who organized the event, led participants in applause for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and chanted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s name.
Republican Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, when asked about Greene’s behavior Monday, also condemned the event but stopped short of condemning her members.
“White supremacy. Neo Nazism, hate speech, and bigotry are disgusting. They have no place or home and our party.”
McDaniel didn’t say whether the party would take any further action against its members, such as censuring them. Instead, she said she “would let the process play out” and see if any members brought any censures forward at a party meeting in August.
The criticism follows recent comments by former President Donald Trump, who continues to praise Putin. During an interview with the conservative radio show “The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show” on Tuesday, Trump labeled Putin’s tactics “genius” and “savvy.” Trump ultimately slammed the invasion on Saturday night at the Conservative Political Action Conference but called Putin “smart.”
Greene and Gosar’s appearance at the conference Friday night is now renewing calls for them to be reprimanded by fellow Republicans in Congress.
“In any other world, Greene speaking at a white supremacist conference where attendees have defended Vladimir Putin and praised Adolf Hitler would warrant expulsion from the caucus, to say nothing of her advocacy for violence and consistent anti-Semitism is disgusting,” Democratic National Committee spokesperson Ammar Moussa said.
Greene, however, has doubled down on her appearance.
“I won’t cancel others in the conservative movement, even if I find some of their statements tasteless, misguided or even repulsive at times. I encourage them to seek wisdom, and apologize to those who have been hurt by their words, as I’ve had to do,” she said. “Our faith calls for charity and forgiveness.”
“We’re not going to be deterred by journalists and Washington insiders who fear the name of Our Lord, and relentlessly attack those of us who proclaim His name. We know that Christ is our only judge,” she added.
Over the weekend, in addition to claiming she didn’t know who Fuentes was, Greene said she went to the event to reach his young audience and to discuss “American First” policies.
Last month, Fuentes was subpoenaed by the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
HOUSTON – The Executive Vice President at Baylor College of Medicine, Dr. James McDeavitt, said Harris County is currently at a “medium risk” with COVID, and he expects over the next few weeks that it will be considered low risk, despite people gathering at large events like the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
“We are still in the upper-medium range for the daily admissions to hospitals, so we’re still seeing a steady stream of patients being admitted to our hospitals. The numbers are coming down very rapidly, and my guess is, in the next couple weeks or so, we will probably get into low risk for that metric as well and be completely green for Harris County,” Dr. McDeavitt said.
The metrics are from the CDC, which showed that the calculations that were updated on Friday determined that the majority of the country has a low transmission and therefore it’s safe to remove masks.
McDeavitt said the rodeo is also safe with only one caveat.
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“If you are healthy, if you don’t have risk factors, if you’re not undergoing cancer chemotherapy, if you’re not immune suppressed, more importantly, if you’re not living with or exposed to someone that is at risk,” McDeavitt said.
The Institute for Health Metrics and Education predicts COVID deaths and ICU hospitalizations will drastically drop in a few months.
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PHOENIX — With the CDC significantly easing mask guidelines, several Arizona counties are already following suit. That change, plus, the decreasing case numbers, is giving people more peace of mind about being in large crowds.
The Italian Festival of Arizona returned stronger than ever after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19.
“It’s incredible. I mean, the crowds were way bigger than we’ve ever experienced, and the culture is just fantastic, as you know,” says Tony Rea, owner and culinary director of Pasta Rea.
The two-day celebration at Heritage Square drew nearly 10,000 people over the weekend.
“It was touching to see, like, the families back out again and that’s really the whole point. We’re all about family and comradery and, just being together,” says Francesco Guzzo, executive director of the Italian Association.
After the CDC said more people could take off their masks, many were eager to listen.
“Feels very normal to be out and that’s what we needed after all this time,” says one festival attendee.
While others say they will still be cautious.
“We were definitely wearing our mask at first but, with eating and being outside, I felt more comfortable… but, definitely put it on and off as needed,” says Monica Tang, festival attendee.
Monica Tang and Natalya Brown say this is one of the first large events they’ve attended since March 2020.
“I live with my grandma so, I try to be extra cautious. We chose Sunday specifically because we thought it would be less crowded. I think we were right for the most part,” says Natalya Brown, festival attendee.
Although people are enjoying this return of normalcy, Dr. Shad Marvasti reminds us that COVID is not gone for good.
“If we could get as many people vaccinated and boosted right now, between now and summer – or whenever the next potential variant shows up – then, that next variant is not going to really do much,” says Dr. Shad Marvasti, ABC15 Health Insider.
