Archives for April 2021

Hertha in 14-day self-solation as COVID-19 outbreak grows

BERLIN (AP) — Another positive test result for COVID-19 has forced the entire Hertha Berlin team and coaching staff into self-isolation for two weeks, complicating the ambitious club’s bid to avoid Bundesliga relegation.

Hertha asked the German soccer league on Thursday to call off its upcoming Bundesliga games against Mainz on Saturday, Freiburg on Wednesday, and Schalke on April 24. It’s likely to lead to fixture chaos in the league with six rounds remaining to be completed by May 22.

Hertha said late Thursday that player Marvin Plattenhardt tested positive for the coronavirus, adding to earlier positive results for coach Pál Dárdai, assistant coach Admir Hamzagic and forward Dodi Lukebakio.

They were all isolating at home without any symptoms, Hertha said. Another assistant coach, Andreas Neuendorf, was also in isolation as a close contact.

The rest of the team and staff had been set to move into closed accommodation until April 28, living together and leaving the site only for training sessions and games, but the local health authority said Plattenhardt’s infection means stricter measures are necessary.

The self-isolation measures mean Hertha won’t be able to play any games until they are lifted.

Goalkeeper Rune Jarstein was the first at Hertha to test positive for the virus, announced by the club on April 5.

“We tightened the hygiene measures again during the last international break, and with it the hope that Rune Jarstein’s positive result would remain an isolated case. Unfortunately this has not been the case,” said Hertha’s sporting director Arne Friedrich, who had taken over coaching duties in Dárdai’s absence.

“Due to the cases that have occurred, we are now forced into a 14-day quarantine at home. From a health point of view, this is absolutely the right step. From a sporting point of view, it affects us, because we now have to fight to stay in the league with six Bundesliga games by the end of the season on May 22.”

Hertha is 15th in the 18-team league, just one place above the relegation playoff spot.

“During the quarantine at home, the team will keep fit with virtual training units under the guidance of the coaching team. We accept the situation despite the difficult circumstances and will do everything in our power for a successful season finale,” Friedrich said.

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Report: Dubai ‘jetman’ didn’t deploy chute in fatal crash

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — One of Dubai’s famed “jetman” pilots killed in a crash in November failed to deploy the emergency parachute attached to the winged engines strapped to his back, an investigative report released Thursday found.

Investigators from the United Arab Emirates’ General Civil Aviation Authority gave no explanation for why Vincent Reffet, 36, of Annecy, France, didn’t use his parachute in the fall during a training flight in the desert of the sheikhdom.

Describing Reffet as an “experienced professional skydiver” and jetwing pilot, the investigators said video from the Nov. 17 crash appeared to show him lose control and go into a backflip hovering some 240 meters (800 feet) off the ground.

Such backflips are common when wearing the wings and recoverable if the pilot thrusts forward through the flip, the report said. Reffet had experience coming out of those flips in the past, but at higher altitudes.

“The risks of the 800-feet hover was discussed during the pre-flight briefing and, as a risk mitigation, it was decided to abort the flight and to deploy the pyro-rocket emergency parachute should the jetwing become uncontrollable,” the report said. “The investigation could not determine why the pilot did not choose this mitigation action.”

Video from a camera attached to his helmet showed the parachute only deployed after he crashed into the ground. Prior to that, his hands moved as though he thought he could enter again into a hover, the report said. The jetwing showed no mechanical problems before or during the flight, investigators said.

The training flight was to simulate a takeoff from the ground, a triangular flight and a jet-powered landing on a 800-foot platform, the report said. A helicopter at that altitude was to simulate the platform, but investigators found no sign it played a part in the crash.

XDubai, an extreme sports venture sponsoring the flights associated with the crown prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Nor did Jetman Dubai, for whom Reffet flew.

Reffet had BASE-jumped off the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building at 828 meters (2,716 feet) in Dubai, setting a world record. BASE is an acronym for building, antenna, span and earth. He earlier earned gold medals while competing as a free-flying skydiver on a team and competed as an extreme athlete.

Jetman Dubai, founded by Swiss adventurer Yves Rossy, sees its athletes zip across the sky with a four-engine, carbon-Kevlar wing strapped to their backs. The wings can fly 50 kilometers (30 miles), have a maximum speed of over 400 kph (248 mph) and can reach an altitude of 6,100 meters (20,000 feet).

Famously in 2015, Reffet and Rossy flew alongside an Emirates Airbus A380 double-decker jetliner over Dubai.

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Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP

US opens more distance in worldwide race against coronavirus

The United States opened more distance between itself and much of the rest of the world Thursday, nearing the 200 millionth vaccine administered in a race to protect the population against COVID-19, even as other countries, rich and poor, struggle with stubbornly high infection rates and deaths.

Nearly half of American adults have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine, and about 30% of adults in the U.S. have been fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the picture is still relentlessly grim in parts of Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia as variants of the virus fuel an increase in new cases and the worldwide death toll closes in on 3 million.

France on Thursday passed 100,000 virus deaths, becoming only the the eighth country to do so.

India’s two largest cities, New Delhi and Mumbai, imposed business shutdowns and stringent restrictions on movement as new infections shot past 200,000. Some hotels and banquet halls were ordered to convert their space into wards for treating virus patients, and the surge forced India — a major vaccine producer — to delay exports of doses to other countries.

Japan also saw a rapid resurgence of infections just three months before it’s scheduled to host the Olympics. The country’s western metropolis of Osaka reported over 1,200 new infections Thursday, its highest since the pandemic began. A top ruling party official suggested the possibility of canceling the games if the infections make them impossible.

Troubling signs also emerged in the U.S., despite the good news that more than 198 million coronavirus shots have been administered nationwide. The seven-day average of daily shots given hit 2.9 million last week.

New daily infections in the U.S. have increased 11% in the past two weeks. Many U.S. states have lifted mask mandates and restrictions on businesses and public gatherings. But more sick people are being admitted to hospitals in some states, including Michigan, which leads the nation with nearly 8,000 new infections per day.

In suburban Detroit, Dr. Nick Gilpin of Beaumont Health likened a rising crush of coronavirus patients to a “runaway train.” Staff were using tents to handle the flow of people seeking emergency care from Michigan’s largest hospital system, which on Thursday was treating more than 800 patients for COVID-19. That’s up from about 500 two weeks ago.

“Our COVID-19 numbers are climbing higher and faster, and it’s very troubling and alarming to see this,” said John Fox, chief executive of Beaumont Health, which operates eight hospitals.

Coronavirus patients statewide were near record numbers in Michigan, which had 3,960 people with confirmed infections hospitalized Wednesday.

Even though half of U.S. adults are still completely unvaccinated, dwindling demand for coronavirus shots was reported by some hospitals in Alabama and Missouri. Both states already lag the nation overall in vaccinating their populations.

In Alabama, only 37% of adults have received even one vaccine dose. Yet East Alabama Medical Center near Auburn University said it was preparing to wind down its vaccination program in a county where fewer than 18% are fully vaccinated.

“The number of vaccine requests has reached a plateau,” hospital spokesman John Atkinson said in a statement.

Cullman Regional Medical Center north of Birmingham also cited declining demand in a statement announcing that its vaccine clinic was being moved to an urgent care center. Hospital spokeswoman Lindsey Dossey later said the drop in demand was because of “more access to the vaccine” at other sites.

Health care officials in Missouri are also worried that not enough people are seeking shots. A large federally operated vaccination site in downtown St. Louis is administering less than half its capacity of 3,000 shots per day. Missouri health department spokeswoman Lisa Cox said the number of public health agencies requesting vaccine last week was down half compared to a week earlier.

“Some of them do feel like they have really hit a wall as far as who is interested,” Cox said, adding that the state plans to start a public awareness campaign soon.

In other developments, the U.S. government reported Thursday that some vaccinated people, as expected, have become sick from the coronavirus, though such cases are rare. The CDC said about 5,800 of the “breakthrough” infections have been confirmed. That’s out of about 75 million Americans who have been fully vaccinated, but the agency warned that reporting of such cases is uneven and incomplete.

Serious illness among vaccinated Americans is even more rare, with fewer than 400 who were hospitalized and 74 who died. As with the flu, people who get COVID-19 after being vaccinated are more likely to have a milder illness than unvaccinated people, the CDC has said.

More than a third of the world’s deaths have occurred in three countries — the United States, Mexico and Brazil, where a total of more than 1.1 million have perished. The virus is claiming about 12,000 lives each day.

The recent decision to suspend the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine due to preliminary reports of rare blood clots left South Africa without any shots in its battle against an aggressive coronavirus variant. South Africa has more than 1.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, including at least 53,000 deaths, representing more than 30% of all the confirmed cases in Africa’s 54 countries.

Meanwhile, Germany’s health ministry announced that the country administered a national record of more than 738,000 vaccine shots Wednesday, though authorities also warned that hospitals were seeing a dramatic rise in coronavirus patients.

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Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. Associated Press writers Ed White in Detroit, Jay Reeves in Birmingham, Alabama, Mike Stobbe in New York and Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas, contributed to this report.

EU top court backs bloc in ban on electric pulse fishing

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s highest court on Thursday backed the bloc’s decision to ban as of July the practice of using electric shocks to stun fish before scooping them up in nets.

The European Court of Justice dismissed a Dutch challenge arguing that the EU didn’t take the latest scientific evidence into account when it took the decision two years ago.

The decision will specifically hit the Dutch fishing fleet, which has invested strongly in electric pulse fishing. They argue the technique is environmentally friendly because it allows trawlers to use far less diesel and doesn’t damage the seabed.

Over 80 of the Dutch fleet’s 137 trawlers are equipped for pulse fishing.

Opponents characterize the method as industrial fishing that is wiping out fish stocks.

“The court dismisses the action brought by the Netherlands in its entirety,” the ECJ said in a statement.

The Dutch fishing federation said the decision will lead to bankruptcies in a sector already hit hard by Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Because of the ban on pulse fishing, cost will substantially rise. We already see family firms quitting after generations of fishing. More bankruptcies will come,” the federation said.

Nets’ Aldridge retires at 35 due to irregular heartbeat

NEW YORK (AP) — LaMarcus Aldridge retired from the NBA on Thursday after saying he experienced an irregular heartbeat during his final game with the Brooklyn Nets.

Aldridge, 35, posted a statement on social media saying the heart concerns he had during and after Brooklyn’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday were one of the “scariest things” he’s experienced.

Aldridge, who was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome — an abnormality that can cause a rapid heartbeat — as a rookie in 2007, said he feels better now after getting it checked out but nevertheless decided to end his 15-year career.

“For 15 years I’ve put basketball first, and now, it is time to put my health and my family first,” Aldridge wrote.

The seven-time All-Star signed with the Nets on March 28 and he had become their starting center. He missed the last two games with what the team had called a non-COVID-19 illness.

Nets general manager Sean Marks said the team fully supported Aldridge’s decision.

“We know this was not an easy decision for him, but after careful consideration and consultation with numerous medical experts, he made the best decision for him, his family and for his life after basketball,” Marks said.

Aldridge joined the Nets after reaching a buyout agreement with the San Antonio Spurs and provided his new team with an inside post presence that was one of the few things it was missing. The 6-foot-11 Aldridge had the best of his five games with the Nets in the one before his heart trouble, scoring 22 points in a victory over New Orleans on April 7.

The No. 2 pick in the 2006 draft was long one of the best at his position, averaging 19.4 points in a career that began with nine seasons in Portland.

Trail Blazers general manager Neil Olshey praised Aldridge as one of the best players in the franchise’s history.

“During his nine seasons in Portland, LaMarcus battled through multiple injuries and health concerns but never once allowed them to affect his commitment to his teammates and coaches on the court or the people that benefited from his outreach in the community off the court,” Olshey said in a statement.

Aldridge went on to play 5 1/2 seasons with the Spurs and was a five-time All-NBA selection. San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich called Aldridge a “consummate professional with a unique skill set and a deep respect for the game.”

“We’re grateful for his contributions, both on and off the court, during his time here in San Antonio,” Popovich said. “I’m proud of him for making this difficult decision and we wish him and his family all of the best in the future.”

Aldridge thanked all three teams in his post, saying Portland gave him some “unforgettable years” after drafting a “skinny, Texas kid.”

He praised the Nets for allowing him to play his type of game, when so many NBA teams are looking more to the perimeter instead of the post now.

“You wanted me for me,” Aldridge said. “In a game that’s changing so much you asked me to come and just do what I do which was good to hear.”

Aldridge missed time at the end of his rookie season to get treated and also sat out for 10 days in training camp in 2011 after his heart symptoms returned. His arrhythmia came back in 2017 and he missed two games that March.

“You never know when something will come to an end,” Aldridge added, “so make sure you enjoy it every day. I can truly say I did just that.”

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Archives for April 2021

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