Prognosis

Experts Fear the Olympics Could Trigger a Global Super Spreader Event

The games have a history of infectious disease outbreaks
Athletes, staff in a bubble, but no quarantine, vaccination

Former Olympian Motoko Obayashi runs with the torch during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games torch relay at Tsurugajo Castle in Fukushima Prefecture on March 26.Photographer: Philip Fong/AFP/Getty Images

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By Lisa Du and Michelle Fay Cortez

March 30, 2021 at 9:00 PM UTC

Updated on

March 31, 2021 at 10:00 AM UTC

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The Tokyo Summer Olympics has survived being postponed, a mountain of scandal and bad publicity. Now comes the real challenge: pulling off the world’s biggest sporting event safely in the middle of a pandemic.