Government officials in Beijing are encouraging local districts to maintain "full emergency mode" as new COVID-19 cases continue to be detected less than two weeks before the start of the Winter Olympics Games, Reuters reports.
Driving the news: At least 27 domestically transmitted cases with symptoms and five local asymptomatic carriers have been reported in Beijing since Jan. 15, per Reuters.
The National Football League said in a memo Friday that unvaccinated players on the remaining eight teams left in the playoffs no longer need to take daily COVID-19 tests.
Driving the news: COVID-19 protocols were updated "to eliminate the distinction between vaccinated and unvaccinated players to determine testing cadence," according to the memo that was obtained by Axios.
The Africa Cup of Nations, the third-largest continental championship in the world, has entered the knockout stage in Cameroon.
State of play: African powers Ghana and Algeria (defending champs) were shockingly eliminated in the group stage, while Gambia and Comoros — two tiny nations making their AFCON debuts — are still alive.
All of the roughly 240 American athletes going to next month's Beijing Winter Olympic Games have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, Team USA's top doctor told AP on Thursday.
The big picture: There was no vaccine requirement for American Olympians at last year's Summer Games in Tokyo, and about 100 of the 613 Team USA athletes competing in the event were unvaccinated.
