TOKYO
Dozens of men and women run across the field in a darkened stadium, keeping their distance from one another. They symbolize all the athletes who have trained in solitude during the pandemic.
The Japanese flag comes into view, borne by a small group of young people and healthcare workers. The national anthem is sung as if in prayer.
The Tokyo Olympics began Friday night the only way they could have, with an occasionally somber opening ceremony acknowledging the ravages of COVID-19 that forced this global sports event to be postponed a year.
With new cases surging throughout Japan and much of the country in a state of emergency, there were no fans and few spectators in the stands, mostly broadcast cameras, officials and reporters watching from the upper deck of Olympic Stadium, a gleaming if largely deserted venue in this city’s fashionable Shinjuku district.
Covid News: Cases on U.S. College Campuses Are Slowing Down
Last Updated
May 27, 2021, 11:41 p.m. ETMay 27, 2021, 11:41 p.m. ET
Scientists react positively to U.S. investigation into origin of virus but caution against expecting an answer in three months. President Biden says he will release the results of the inquiry.
Here’s what you need to know:
University of Missouri students earlier this month.Credit.Jacob Moscovitch for The New York Times
As spring classes draw to a close and more people in the United States get vaccinated, coronavirus infections, which plagued college campuses across the country and seeped into the community at large, appear to be slowing among students and employees.
Covid-19: C.D.C. Guidance Prompts Caution in Some States
Last Updated
May 14, 2021, 1:13 a.m. ETMay 14, 2021, 1:13 a.m. ET
Since many states led by Republicans had already eased masking rules, reactions were more obvious in Democratic-led states. The U.S. began the world’s first mass inoculation effort in 12- to 15-year-olds, underscoring the widening gulf in global access to shots.
Here’s what you need to know:
University of Missouri students ordering in a restaurant last week. Masks will no longer be required indoors for the vaccinated.Credit.Jacob Moscovitch for The New York Times
“We have all longed for this moment,” Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a White House news conference on Thursday. “If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic.”