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Handball players from Brazil at the team photo
Photo: Khaled Elfiqi / POOL / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock
Yara Abdallah had a visitor on Saturday, at least a little.
The 29-year-old stood on the balcony on the sixth floor of her hotel in central Cairo and looked out onto the street, where two women waved to her from a black car.
"These are my mother and my aunt," said the young woman.
A few seconds later, the family happiness was over, the security forces in front of the heavy gate in the driveway of the hotel asked to continue driving.
Yara Abdallah has to wait two more weeks before she can see her family up close again.
Until then, it has to remain shielded in the hotel bubble.
She is one of many hundreds of helpers at the handball world championship.
Like everyone involved in the tournament in the greater Cairo area, she is isolated from the outside world for the duration of the event.
"We knew what to expect," says Abdallah.
On January 9th, four days before the start of the World Cup, she moved into her room and was tested for the corona virus for the first time.
Another test followed every 72 hours, and the world association now has it tested every day following criticism of the hygiene concept.
In addition to helpers like Abdallah, the professionals, referees, officials and journalists are also tested for the corona virus.
They all have to stay in the »World Cup bubble«.
And that should be as safe as possible.
The International Handball Federation (IHF) and World Cup organizers from Egypt have set themselves the goal of holding a World Cup while a pandemic is raging around the world, especially in Europe, and many participants in this final round come from there.
In any case, the organizers go to great lengths to ensure a safe tournament.
And yet the bubble is a fragile structure.
Shortly before the start of the World Cup, two teams, the USA and the Czech Republic, were excluded because there were too many corona infections in their ranks.
The virus still found its way into the bladder: In the first days of the tournament there were positive cases in Slovenia, Brazil and Denmark.
To play or not to play?
Cape Verde is currently looking the most serious.
Even before the tournament, the team reported seven positive cases, on arrival in Egypt four more were added and on Saturday, and thus after entering the »World Cup bubble«, two other players tested positive again.
That is why the second group game of the German team on Sunday evening was on the brink and has since been canceled - it will be counted for the German selection.
The DHB selection had already indicated on Friday that they would rather not play the game, the risk was too great.
The IHF was shown with the decision and leaves Cape Verde in the tournament for the time being.
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Meal with the team: The DHB selection at dinner
Photo: Sascha Klahn / dpa
You can only briefly observe life in Egypt while driving from the venues back to the hotel complexes.
Many cafes are well attended.
You see people wearing masks, but they are outnumbered.
There is no mask requirement in Egypt.
The number of new infections in Egypt has recently increased, but at a low level, the country is currently recording almost a thousand new infections per day.
Thoughtful words come from the German hope Juri Knorr.
“It is of course difficult when you look out of the bus and see that we are surrounded by a great deal of poverty.
That takes me a lot, "the 20-year-old super talent told the sports information service:" It's difficult when you know that you are here in a hotel oasis and that everything is passed on, and children are selling some water outside in the streets. «Knorr is reflected when it comes to the coronavirus, he himself is already sick with Covid-19 and showed strong symptoms at the beginning.
“I know it doesn't have to be a walk in the park.
Long-term damage can also occur, even for us athletes, ”says Knorr.
In the World Cup bubble, the mask is mandatory most of the time.
"On the tram in Mannheim you can see more people who do not wear the mask correctly," reports Uwe Gensheimer of his observations.
The captain of the German national team, who plays for the Rhein-Neckar Löwen in Mannheim, now feels safe in the bladder.
This also applies to his teammates.
The concept is continuously optimized
Upon arrival, the German delegation initially complained about a few things.
She criticized that not enough distance could be kept from other teams.
These deficiencies should now be remedied.
The Egyptian organizer tries to please the teams and keeps adapting the concept.
First spectators were supposed to be allowed to attend the games, but the European handball captains protested, and they did so successfully.
With the daily Corona smears from all those involved, the organizer hopes to further minimize the risk.
However, there are still individual cases.
Some cornerstones of the hygiene concept have been in effect since day one.
The four hotels may only be left for trips to the halls.
A large number of security personnel, police and military secure the accommodations and venues.
Nobody gets in unchecked, nobody is allowed out without permission.
It takes up to half an hour before a shuttle bus is allowed to leave the hotel complex. First, several institutions have to give the green light for the transfer.
The hotel complexes are large, but many people are brought together here in a small space.
Scenes that have not been seen in Germany for a long time.
Yara Abdallah is also one of the many people.
She is determined to make her contribution to a successful World Cup amid a pandemic.
Just a short wave from the balcony towards the family, she accepts that.
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