Eight fencers from six continents, detected with COVID-19 at the pre-Olympic sword tournament in Budapest
Organizers of the pre-Olympic sword tour in Budapest, Hungary, which took place between March 11 and 14, announced that eight fencers had gone into quarantine after becoming infected with COFID-19, Agerpres reports, citing Reuters.
“The eight infected fencers come from six continents,” said Andras Szetey, spokesman for the Hungarian Fencing Federation, without revealing the names of the countries of origin.
Among those infected with COVID-19, according to Hungarian media, are three Japanese athletes and one from Greece.
The DPA agency also reported that four of the infected athletes are representatives of Germany.
In Budapest, the fencers were allowed to move freely between the hotels and the competition arena.
About 390 athletes and coaches from 49 countries participated in the competition, which ended on Sunday.
The Sword World Cup competition is the first major fencing competition this year and took place in a month in which the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic is felt, with a rapid spread.
In early March, the Hungarian authorities imposed a strict lockdown, while the vaccination programme was accelerated in Budapest, the European capital with the highest immunisation rate, according to European Union data.
Hungary reported nearly 550,000 people infected with coronavirus and 17,841 COFID-19-related deaths by Friday, according to worldometers.info.
PHOTO: EPA