More than 40 players and officials test positive for COVID
Brasilia, June 15 (RHC)-- The coronavirus continues to stalk the Copa América de Fútbol, after the Brazilian Ministry of Health reported the infection of a dozen officials at the headquarters in Brasilia, bringing to 41 the number of infected people among players, technical staff and service personnel.
The Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, explained that all those contaminated work in the hotel facilities where the teams are staying, while confirming the isolation of all their contacts. Queiroga acknowledged the need for a detailed analysis within 14 days to define which strain infected the infected, in the middle of a tournament under a sort of bubble format with seats also in Goiania, Rio de Janeiro and Cuiaba.
Before the opening whistle, the COVID-19 virus had already hit several teams, with Venezuela being the most affected with 13 infected players and coaching staff. Bolivia (three), Colombia (two) and the Peruvian physical trainer were added to the list of those infected, among the 2,927 RT-PCR tests for the championship -including in some cases more than one on the same person-, of which 1.40 percent were positive.
Among the biosecurity protocols, Copa América authorities contemplate minimizing contact with the outside world for all those involved; conducting PCR tests every 48 hours before each match; and transferring delegations on charter flights, agreements previously reached between Conmebol, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), and Brazilian authorities.
Health authorities in Brazil reported that 1,129 people died of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths since the beginning of the pandemic to 487,401. In addition, 37,948 confirmed cases were counted, bringing the total number of infections to 17,412,766, the third most complicated in this indicator behind the United States and India.
With a dozen teams divided into two groups, the Copa América arrived in Brazil after Argentina rejected it for health reasons, and Colombia for the political and social crisis it is going through.
