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A view of the Tokyo Olympic Rings ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan.

Danny Lawson | PA pictures | Getty Images

The Tokyo Olympics are slated to officially start with a one-year delay, and the International Olympic Committee says organizers have done everything in their power to ensure safe games as the coronavirus pandemic rages on.

“Anything that … can be done, anything that has been recommended by all of these experts – some of them here with us to deliver these Games – we have done,” said Christophe Dubi, the IOC’s Olympic Games Executive Director.

He responded to criticism that the organization was using “cheap measures” and had not listened to advice. Dubi told CNBC’s “Capital Connection” on Friday that the IOC had received help from many experts around the world and “diligently followed up” on all recommended measures.

“I think we’re doing just the right thing and we don’t think it’s cheap at all,” he said.

Olympic Games Challenges

World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told organizers on Wednesday that they did their best and said the goal was not to have zero Covid cases during the Games.

“The sign of success is making sure all cases are identified, isolated, followed up, dealt with and the referral broken as soon as possible,” said Tedros.

Dubi of the IOC said organizers have been doing this for the past few days and will continue to do so.

Looking ahead, including the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, he said the IOC had learned to create safe conditions, but the situation was “very fluid” and would continue to evolve.

“We have to be prepared for the worst and plan for the worst,” he said. He added that there was “no talk at all” about a postponement.

The show must go on?

Earlier this week, Toshiro Muto, head of the Tokyo Olympics Organizing Committee, didn’t rule out canceling the event if Covid-19 cases increase.

However, Kirsten Holmes, professor of events and tourism at Curtin University, said it was “very difficult” for organizers to cancel the games.

It is very difficult for the organizing committee to get stuck.

Kirsten Holmes

Professor at Curtin University

She said the Tokyo games will be logistically more difficult than normal games and there will have to be flexibility. “But I think it’s very unlikely that … all the games will be abandoned,” she said.

“We could see individual competitions being postponed or possibly canceled if all participants cannot participate,” she told CNBC on Friday to Street Signs Asia.

With no spectators or international visitors, Holmes said the Games are all about the athletes, some of whom may only have one chance to compete at this level.

“It is very difficult for the Organizing Committee to get stuck and so … we will see the event for the next few weeks and of course the Paralympic Games next month,” she said.

Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics owns the U.S. broadcast rights to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032.

Clubbers queue around the block at a few minutes to midnight waiting for Covid-19 restrictions to be dropped and for Pryzm nightclub to open its doors once more on July 18, 2021 in Brighton, England.

Chris Eades | Getty Images News | Getty Images

LONDON — Nightclubs and bars are fast becoming the new battleground in the fight against Covid-19 as the nocturnal economy re-opens in some countries and coronavirus cases soar, particularly among the young.

Covid is seeing a resurgence in Europe as the highly infectious delta variant spreads among the unvaccinated and partially-immunized population, which is predominantly young as they were the last in line to receive a vaccine.

At the same time, a number of European countries decided to revive their night time economies, allowing bars and clubs to reopen to the public again, some after 16 months of closure which put many out of business.

In England, nightclubs were allowed to reopen as the clock struck midnight on Sunday with thousands of revelers soaking up the lights, music and lack of face masks and social distancing. Experts are already warning that England’s move is risky, particularly as other countries that reopened before it have now shut up shop (or club) again.

U-turns elsewhere

Other countries allowed their nightclubs to reopen in June, including the Netherlands and Spain, but both made rapid revisions and reversals given the Covid situation.

In the Netherlands, nightclubs reopened on June 26 but the government soon regretted the decision, performing a U-turn just two weeks later, closing them down again on July 10 as Covid cases surged in the country, particularly among the young. More than 1,000 Covid infections were linked to one music festival in the Dutch city of Utrecht earlier in July.

Read more: Dutch try to stamp out rule-breaking in bars and cafes as Covid infections soar

On having to close its club doors until August 13, Melkweg, a venue in Amsterdam, described the move as “an annoying decision” but said that “due to the increasing number of infections, we believe that we cannot yet guarantee a safe environment for the public, employees and artists.” 

Lawrence Young, a virologist and professor of molecular oncology at Warwick Medical School at the U.K.’s University of Warwick, told CNBC on Wednesday that the country’s experience was a warning to England.

“If you look at the data from the Netherlands, it’s quite clear that it is that nightclub scene that has fueled this infection rate. It’s clear that opening up, in the way that they did, particularly with the nighttime economy, has been a real driver to massive levels of infection. They saw an eightfold increase [in cases] in a week and most of that is in the 18-29 year olds,” he noted.

“I don’t want to appear to be a doomster but when you look at the pictures from England at the turn of midnight [when clubs reopened on Sunday] it is really frightening and for me it really is inevitable that we’re going to have to reintroduce restrictions of some description” particularly, he said, while there were 18 to 30 year-olds not yet vaccinated or fully immunized.

The virus ‘is not overcome’

Similar to the Netherlands, Spain was optimistic that it could also reopen nightclubs, a key component of its nocturnal economy and tourism sector.

In June, the government announced plans to allow all of Spain’s 17 regions to reopen venues in time for the summer season. But with strict rules attached; clubs could stay open only until 3 a.m., there would be limits on the number of people allowed in venues (depending on the Covid situation in the region) and restrictions would stay in place until Spain reached a 70% vaccination rate.

A handful of regions opposed the move at the time but others went ahead, reopening their clubs around he weekend of June 26. Just like the Netherlands, however, cases soared among young people and several regions took the unilateral step to close venues again. Now, there is a myriad of varying rules on closing times, curfews and capacity across Spain, local media report.

Young men with alcohol drinks in their hands make fun and shout on Barceloneta beach promenade on July 17 2021. Police evicts crowds from Barceloneta beach after Catalonia decreed the return of a 1am curfew given the rebound in Covid-19 cases as a result of the delta variant of the coronavirus.

SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images

On forcing clubs in Barcelona to close in early July — just a couple of weeks after they had reopened — Catalonia’s regional government spokesperson Patricia Plaja noted that “we cannot pretend that we have overcome the virus. The data is worrying and the number of infections is growing at an exponential rate far beyond what we can afford.”

Gustavo Ferrer, co-owner and director of the Macarena Club in Barcelona, which had to shut its doors earlier in July, told CNBC Thursday that having to close “has been very hard for us, we have been closed for many months.”

The order to close was all the more frustrating, he said, because “we thought that the authorities had studied the situation well and had everything under control, but it was not like that and after two weeks we had to close again.”

Read more: The beta Covid variant is causing concerns in Europe. Should we be worried?

Ferrer said the Macarena hopes to be open again in mid-August or early September with vaccine passports and antigen tests a way to get the industry back on its feet.

The British government announced at the start of the week that it was planning on making Covid vaccination compulsory for nightclub goers and other crowded venues in England from the end of September. This prompted criticism from the industry including from Michael Kill, CEO of the Night Time Industries Association, who commented on Twitter Tuesday: “So ‘Freedom Day’ for clubs lasted around 17 hours then.”

Doctors are worried

Medical experts are duly worried about the infection rate among young people.

Chris Lutterodt, a doctor and spokesman for the charity Healthcare Workers Foundation, told CNBC that he the link between nightlife and Covid infections was obvious given it’s “harder to maintain social distancing and enforce rules in this setting especially when alcohol comes into the mix.”

“As a GP [general practitioner] I have seen a lot of mainly young people presenting after catching Covid for advice and support. This mirrors what we are seeing with an increased number of infections mainly affecting the younger people. I have seen patients who have attended hen and stag parties over the last few weekends where a significant proportion of them have developed Covid and, in one case, 6 out of the 8 attendees,” he said.

Read more: Headache? Runny nose? These are among the new top 5 Covid symptoms, study says

“We need to remember that people who have recently been vaccinated with the first dose may not have sufficient immunity to protect them against catching Covid-19. It is important to follow government advice and social distancing measures where applicable to stop the spread.”

Lutterodt said governments need to ensure that there are proper procedures in place before opening night time industries “if we are to avoid another spike in cases and re-closing of nightclubs which have really suffered throughout this pandemic.”

As it is, however, he added that he was concerned a reopening of clubs will create “the perfect storm for an increase in cases and subsequent hospitalization especially over the autumn and winter months where we know the NHS (the National Health Service) is usually under tremendous pressure.”

Despite booming boat sales and charters, yachting remains a mystery to most people.

CNBC spoke to several yacht owners who agreed to answer any questions about the yachting lifestyle and, perhaps more importantly, how much it costs – without a ban on topics.

The owner

Nim and Fabiola Hirschhorn are in the US Virgin Islands aboard Luna, their 2019 45-foot Lagoon 450S catamaran. The couple operate all-inclusive crewed charters in the Caribbean.

Sophie Darsy and Ryan Ellison are in the Azores on Polar Seal, a Beneteau Oceanis 40 from 2007, which is equipped for deep sea sailing. A few years ago the couple learned to sail, quit their company jobs and now report on their life at sea.

How much does a decent yacht cost?

N. Hirschhorn: It depends on some basic parameters. Is the boat used or new, in what year of construction, is it a monohull or catamaran, is it an ex-charter yacht or has it always been privately owned … do you just want to cruise or cross oceans?

The Hirschhorns operate charters in the Caribbean, with four-night trips for two guests starting at around $ 12,000.

Courtesy of Sail Luna

Luna was bought new for $ 650,000; However, we know many people who live on boats that were bought for $ 30,000 to $ 80,000.

On average, you can buy a mid-range seaworthy 45-foot monohull that can sail around the world for $ 100,000 to $ 150,000 and a catamaran of the same size for about $ 250,000 to $ 500,000. Of course, there are boats on both ends of the spectrum and at every price point in between.

A rough guide to boat buying for beginners

costs	size	Construction year	What you should know
$ 5,000-20,000	20-30 feet	1960s to 1980s	Will likely need maintenance that can easily cost as much as the boat
$ 30,000- $ 60,000	30-40 feet	1970s to 1980s	The improbable boat will be ready to cruise; Budget at least 25% of the boat’s value for repairs and upgrades after purchase
$ 70,000- $ 110,000	40-50 feet	1990s to 2000s	A modern entry-level boat or an older larger boat; Here the cost is a balance of age, size and features
			Source: Sophie Darsy

Are there any other costs you should be aware of?

Lesson: The purchase price is only part of the budget you need to buy a yacht. When we took over our boat, the costs came faster than we knew!

American Ryan Ellison and French Sophie Darsy, now both Swedish citizens, bought their boat for $ 90,000 in 2016.

Courtesy Ryan and Sophie Sailing

In the first three years we owned Polar Seal, we spent at least $ 40,000 equipping it for cruises and ocean sailing, including:

• A cockpit enclosure to keep the cockpit dry: $ 7,000
• New sails: $ 8,000
• A dinghy and an electric outboard [engine for the dinghy]: $ 5,000
• A watermaker to make fresh water from seawater: $ 2,000
• Lithium batteries and equipment power supplies: $ 6,000
• A new autopilot: $ 2,000
• A life raft: $ 2,500
• Security and communications equipment: $ 3,000

If you’re looking to buy a boat, keep at least 30% of your budget for maintenance, repairs, and upgrades.

We also have annual costs for boat insurance (between $ 1,000 and $ 4,000, depending on location) and travel and health insurance outside of Europe ($ 1,500) and airline tickets for family visits (approximately $ 2,000 per year).

How much do you have to earn – or save – to live on a yacht for a few years?

N. Hirschhorn: Think about what it costs to live on land – how do you live? Do you like to eat in fancy restaurants and buy nice things? Chances are you’ll do the same if you live on a boat, which means your lifestyle will often cost the same. Will you anchor – which is free – or stay in marinas? Are you going to live on your savings on a sabbatical or are you working on the side? Are you a family or a couple?

Nim Hirschhorn said he pays $ 90 to $ 300 a night to moor his boat in marinas in the Caribbean.

Courtesy of Sail Luna

We have friends who lived aboard a 1984 47-foot monohull with three children for two years. The boat was $ 90,000 and they lived on $ 50,000 a year while cruising the Caribbean and anchoring all the time.

Personally, we live on about $ 100,000 a year. I know couples who live on $ 1,000 a month and families who live on $ 3,000 to $ 6,000 a month. It is not uncommon in our church to hear that life on a boat and a trip around the world costs less than life on land.

How much does the location affect the costs?

Lesson: In 2019 we spent the winter in a marina in Spain, where we could benefit from an advantageous price (300 USD per month). But the food was very cheap ($ 300 a month). We used our time at the dock to do some large boating projects and our maintenance budget increased significantly – $ 15,000 for upgrades over six months.

But we rented a car for virtually free thanks to a local deal, and our “fun activities” budget went to zero as we enjoyed inexpensive restaurants and bars with friends all over southern Spain.

Yacht owners are also on a budget, said Sophie Darsy, who along with Ryan Ellison spends about $ 3,500 a month on boat maintenance, data plans, groceries, occasional marina stops, and activities like diving, windsurfing, and car rental.

Courtesy Ryan and Sophie Sailing

Compared to when we did a three week trip to Bermuda, groceries and restaurants were very expensive. But we spent those weeks at anchor and didn’t have to pay for a marina. We haven’t spent anything on maintenance or repairs. We spent the remaining weeks of this month at sea, and since we hadn’t spent any money in those two weeks, we made our budget.

How has the pandemic affected sailing?

N. Hirschhorn: It’s more complicated … some countries have closed their seaports to visiting yachts, and some require an entry protocol, which can include prior authorization and quarantine on board for up to two weeks.

Some countries do not accept all nationalities and travelers of certain origins, which makes it difficult when we have three to four nationalities on board. Other countries only welcome vaccinated travelers.

Covid test requirements mean “we can’t do island hopping anymore,” Nim said, adding that frequent rule changes and delays in test results have made sailing logistically complicated.

Courtesy of Sail Luna

Lesson: The pandemic made sailing between countries a little more difficult, but while our options were extremely limited in 2020, we were much more fortunate in 2021.

Like the housing market, the boat market exploded in 2020 and 2021. It seems like everyone and their neighbors are buying a yacht … prices have also risen in unprecedented ways. Our boat has increased in value so much that if we sold it today we would not lose any of the capital invested.

Is it compatible to have young children in order to live full-time on a yacht?

F. Hirschhorn: There is no reason why children of all ages cannot live on a yacht. There are many families who live on boats on the water and they are usually very confident, intelligent, and worldly children who thrive in this lifestyle. There are hundreds of “children’s boats”, especially in the Caribbean [boats with families living on them].

Is there WiFi at sea?

N. Hirschhorn: Yes, we have a couple of levels of service. We have a cellular data service that can receive a signal up to 20 nautical miles offshore. Since we normally sail between the Caribbean islands, we are usually always connected. We also have two other satellite-based systems with limited WiFi but worldwide coverage.

Lesson: Nope! We only have wi-fi in port or at anchor if we have a data plan for the country we are currently sailing in. Out at sea we have satellite internet that allows us to download weather forecasts and basic emails, but under no circumstances watch Netflix or listen to Spotify!

Is seasickness common?

Lesson: Many sailors suffer from seasickness, and I am particularly susceptible to it. The trick is to prevent it. Once the nausea subsides, there is no way to get rid of it.

We know a lot of boat owners who are not rich at all. It’s just a different lifestyle …

Nim Hirschhorn

Captain of Sail Luna

My top tips are:

• Take medication the night before departure and sleep well.
• Drink lots of water and eat a lot more than usual; low blood sugar speeds up seasickness.
• Keep yourself warm; Invest in sailing clothing and equipment that will protect you from the elements because the cold will send you to hell in no time.

Is skinny dipping allowed?

N. Hirschhorn: No, we must obey local laws and customs; However, nudity is far more common in the Mediterranean.

Lesson: It is not uncommon for us to be anchored alone in front of a lonely island. Nobody is watching, so …

What is the most common question you are asked?

N. Hirschhorn: Many ask us if we have a home on land. We love to see the surprise on their faces when we declare that Luna is our home.

European countries are “easy” to travel to, but the Caribbean can have “archaic” and costly lawsuits for yachts, Darsy said.

Courtesy Ryan and Sophie Sailing

Lesson: All of my friends have asked me if I am ever afraid of facing a storm or a large lake that would capsize our boat and honestly, before we left it was me!

But now I know that we always leave the port when we have a good weather window. In three years, 13,000 nautical miles and two ocean crossings, we’ve only sailed through stormy winds once and we did it perfectly.

What’s the biggest misconception people have about the yachting lifestyle?

N. Hirschhorn: Some people think that a yacht owner is a millionaire. We know a lot of boat owners who are not rich at all. It’s just a different lifestyle that comes with lots of bonuses but also lots of sacrifices.

Lesson: People believe that we are very rich, come from wealthy families, or make a lot of money. None of this is true. We have saved a lot of money, made some sacrifices, and continue to do so … and we are staying within budget.

When we were full-time, Ryan and I brought home comfortable salaries and lived the dream of “two incomes, no children”. We now earn less than half of what we made then and live on half of our old budget … but our lives are much richer.

Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

The National Football League plans to operate as normally as possible for the upcoming 2021 season and announced to teams that they would lose games and lose money if Covid outbreaks occur due to unvaccinated players.

In a memo received from CNBC, the NFL announced to team leaders and head coaches that it has no plans to postpone games like it did in the 2020 season due to outbreaks. Instead, the league wrote: “Postponements will only take place if this is done by government agencies, medical experts or the [NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s] Discretion.”

The NFL notes that most of their teams vaccinated 100 percent of their top employees and kept logs for unvaccinated employees. In addition, the league said more than 75 percent of players are vaccinated, and more than half of clubs have vaccination rates greater than 80 percent of their players.

If games are postponed or canceled due to unvaccinated people, teams and players could also face fines.

Players cannot be guaranteed guaranteed money in contracts and could be fined for using harmful language. The NFL players’ union warned voters of the league’s stance on postponing games and urged unvaccinated players to get vaccinated and avoid contract issues through adverse behavior. The NFLPA sent out its own memo on Thursday reminding players that “if games were missed because of a COVID-19 outbreak, no one would have paid.” The memo ends with the NFLPA asking players to come forward with questions.

On the team front, “the club experiencing the outbreak is responsible for any additional expenses incurred by the opposing team and must also pay any shortfall between the actual and expected payment to the VTS pool (visitor team portion).” In addition, clubs that are losing will have losses on their balance sheets, threatening their chances in the postseason.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) falls back to face the onslaught from Baltimore Ravens linebacker LJ Fort (58) during the Pittsburgh Steelers game against the Baltimore Ravens on Jan.

Mark Goldman | Sportswire icon | Getty Images

“Given the considerable flexibility of the squad for the 2021 season, a lack of medical considerations or regulatory instructions, games will not be postponed or postponed just to avoid squad problems caused by injuries or illnesses affecting multiple players, even within a position group.” said the memo.

The league’s tough stance on postponing games will also protect network partners who have just agreed to a media deal worth more than $ 100 billion.

The NFL postponed several games over the past season due to Covid outbreaks, including the Week 12 competition between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers. This game was originally scheduled for Thanksgiving Day but has been postponed three times. It was finally played on December 2nd and drew 10.8 million viewers on NBC. The Thanksgiving Day 2019 game on the network drew around 21 million viewers.

Advertising metrics data company EDO estimated that advertisers lost value on the Ravens Steelers game. The 2019 NFL Thanksgiving night game grossed NBC $ 62.8 million, according to EDO. And data analytics firm Simulmedia said the 2020 competition was worth $ 70 million.

NFL training camps open this month in preparation for the 2021 season. The Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers kick off the year on September 9th.

Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC

Source: CDC | Youtube

The Delta-Covid variant is one of the most contagious respiratory diseases scientists have ever seen, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

The variant is highly contagious, mainly because people infected with the Delta strain can carry up to 1,000 times more virus in their nasal passages than those infected with the original strain, according to new data.

“The Delta variant is more aggressive and much more transmissible than previously circulating strains,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky reporters at a briefing Thursday. “It’s one of the most contagious respiratory viruses we know and that I’ve seen in my 20-year career.”

The Delta variant has spread rapidly in the US and currently accounts for more than 83% of the cases sequenced in the US, up from 50% in the week of July 3rd.

The seven-day average of new cases has increased by around 53% compared to the previous week and is currently 37,674 new cases per day. Hospital admissions are up 32% to about 3,500 per day from last week, and deaths are up 19% to about 240 per day over the same period.

Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards

Graphic shows current data on Covid-19 in the USA.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

“This virus has no incentive to wear off and it remains on the lookout for the next person at risk to infect,” Walensky said.

The virus penetrates US counties with low vaccination rates, while counties with high vaccination rates have lower rates of new infections.

Three states, Florida, Texas and Missouri, with low vaccination rates account for 40% of all new cases nationwide, White House Covid Tsar Jeff Zients said. Florida alone accounted for one in five of all new cases in the United States for the second straight week.

In hospitals across the country, 97% of people admitted with Covid symptoms are unvaccinated, and 99.5% of all Covid deaths are also unvaccinated.

For the past week, the five states with the highest case numbers had higher rates of people getting re-vaccinated compared to the national average.

“We are at another pivotal moment in this pandemic as cases are picking up again and some hospitals are reaching capacity in some areas. We need to come together as a nation,” Walensky said.