Monaco’s major racing events in May have not driven up the circulation of Covid-19 in the Principality. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
According to the government’s latest figures, in the week leading up to 30th May, 3,042 people were tested for Covid-19 in Monaco. Of those, only 0.33% returned a positive result, bringing the incidence rate down to just 7.82. That’s compared to 20.86 a week ago, and 226 at the peak of the virus in March.
Monaco is now regularly reporting no new daily cases of coronavirus, and there is only one non-resident Covid-related patient in the Princess Grace Hospital. Monaco Grand Prix impact
The positive figures come on the back of an eventful month of May for the Principality, during which three public events were hosted: the Historic Grand Prix of Monaco, the Formula E competition, and the Monaco Grand Prix – the only event to be open to the general population.
Authorities performed almost 50,000 checks throughout the four-day Monaco GP, stopping 8,000 vehicles and 42,500 pedestrians. Of those, 3,120 were asked to turn back.
Between 80% and 87% of the allowed capacity turned out for the event, with average occupancy in grandstands at 81%. Traffic was significantly down by 45% compared to the 2019 GP. Vaccinations open to all adults
Meanwhile, the Principality’s vaccination programme continues to steam ahead, with over 16,500 people now inoculated, equivalent to 43% of the population. Of those, 82% have also received their second vaccination.
Just days after calling up the 35 to 44 year age group for vaccination, the government announced on Friday that any adult over the age of 18 is now eligible to make an appointment for the voluntary protection against Covid-19, a virus which has been attributed to the deaths of 3.55 million people worldwide.
A 96-year-old resident became the Principality’s 33rd victim this week.
Photo by Monaco Life
Tickets go on sale for Tokyo 2020 rugby sevens qualifier
Rugby sevens teams competing for the final Tokyo 2020 qualification places in Monaco will be playing in front of spectators when the event is staged later this month.
Ticket sales officially opened on Friday 28th May after organisers confirmed that 5,000 fans will be able to watch the Olympic Games Sevens Repechage tournament on the two main days of competition at the Stade Louis II, 19th and 20th June.
Any person who is not a resident or professional of the Principality of Monaco must present a negative RT-PCR test taken with the past 72 hours.
The good news for spectators came on the day that World Rugby confirmed the match schedule for the competition.
A total of 12 women’s teams will contest two final places in the Olympic Rugby Sevens tournament, while 10 men’s teams will be in pursuit of a single remaining place in the competition due to take place at Tokyo Stadium from 26th to 31st July.
The women’s competition will feature Argentina, Colombia, France, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Samoa and Tunisia.
The men’s tournament will include Chile, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Jamaica, Mexico, Samoa, Tonga, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
Following the two men’s opening matches, the first of which will see Zimbabwe playing Mexico, fans will be able to follow the subsequent competition which will conclude with two finals for the women and one for the men.
“With Tokyo 2020 less than three months away, the rugby family is looking forward to what promises to be a special sevens tournament that personifies the togetherness, camaraderie and optimism that characterises these remarkable Olympic Games,” World Rugby Chief Executive Alan Gilpin said. “The Monaco repechage is also symbolic in its own way – a reflection and celebration of sevens international re-emergence from the unprecedented challenges that society and sports people have faced.”
Tickets starting from €10 can be purchased now online via the website www.monaco-rugby.com. It will also be possible to buy tickets from 8th to 20th of June at a ticket office at the entrance of the Stade Louis II.
Nico’s Rosberg X Racing has scored its consecutive Extreme E championship victory in Senegal, despite a first-corner collision with Lewis Hamilton’s X44 team.
The pioneering electric SUV, off-road racing series delivered even more spectacular moments and overtakes on the weekend than the dramatic curtain-raising Desert X Prix in the Saudi deserts of AlUla eight weeks ago.
Running alongside the stunning backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean in Dakar, Senegal, the Extreme E showdown featured the notoriously bumpy and flowing ‘Moguls’ section, a single file wooded area and a spectacular start/finish straight running along the beach, a course that has been heralded by the drivers as more technical and closer to their initial vision of Extreme E. Molly Taylor (AUS)/Johan Kristoffersson (SWE), Rosberg X Racing, Cristina Gutierrez (ESP)/Sebastien Loeb (FRA), X44, Jamie Chadwick (GBR)/Stephane Sarrazin (FRA), Veloce Racing, and Cristina Gutierrez (ESP)/Sebastien Loeb (FRA), X44.
Rosberg X Racing (RXR) teammates Molly Taylor and Johan Kristoffersson overcame intense pressure from their rivals to be crowned winners of the first-ever Ocean X prix, after both Jenson Button’s JBXE outfit and Lewis Hamilton’s X44 squad retired in the early stages of the two-lap, 12.6km race.
Hamilton’s car sustained damage to its right-front wheel after contact between Cristina Gutierrez in the X44 and leader Molly Taylor for Rosberg X Racing. That was almost immediately followed by Button’s SUV sustaining terminal damage on the long, bumpy shoreside run at the start of the lap.
After the race was red-flagged so that the two cars could be cleared, a standing restart saw Rosberg’s Johan Kristoffersson and Veloce’s Jamie Chadwick battle for the lead, but the former pulled away and completed the second lap to win by 14 seconds.
Button’s team came in third, and Hamilton’s fourth. Nico Rosberg, founder and CEO, Rosberg X Racing with Molly Taylor (AUS), Johan Kristoffersson (SWE), and team members.
“I’m so happy for us as a team to have won in Extreme E for the second time. Two out of two, wow,” said Nico Rosberg, founder and CEO of RXR, after the win. “You know, it’s not to be underestimated the challenge that was out there this weekend. It’s so difficult because no one really understands the cars properly, as you don’t get a chance to test them. So, you have to guess and figure things out – as a team, we’re really trying to bring a Formula 1 approach to Extreme E here which is really helping us as a team to perform.
“It’s so cool as well that in AlUla, it was Johan that very much did it at the start and Molly followed on, but today it’s Molly that made the magic in the final and then Johan brought it home,” the former Formula 1 champion added. Christine ‘GZ’ Giampaoli Zonca (ESP), Oliver Bennett (GBR), Hispano Suiza Xite Energy Team.
Nine teams and 18 drivers competed, but in a slight change to the Saudi Arabia race format, the final was a four-car battle, with two teams from each of the two semi-finals progressing to the concluding race.
Segi TV Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle LeDuc took the new Super Sector title, earning an extra five points for his team setting the fastest time of 1 minute 50.891 seconds – 1.289 seconds ahead of X44’s Sebastien Loeb.
“The race format here has been a big step forward from AlUla in terms of development for race excitement – but it’s still early stages and there’s still a way to go,” Rosberg said. “I love this whole championship and being in the role of team principal – I’m still as competitive as hell even though I’m not actually driving. Anyway, we have the two best drivers in the car who are doing a much better job than I could – and I couldn’t be happier.”
Rosberg’s team is sitting at the top of the championship ahead of the third event of the climate-aware series, the Arctic X Prix, in Greenland on 28th to 29th August.
Monaco Boost has put out its second call for applications, seeking Monegasque entrepreneurs to take advantage of the incubator’s workspaces and networking opportunities.
After its launch in January 2021, Monaco’s government-funded business incubator is seeking a new round of start-ups to support at its Fontvielle site.
Successful applicants will be allocated office space ranging from 10m2 to 30m2, depending on the type of business and their individual needs. The space is sufficient to accommodate anywhere from one to three employees.
Selected candidates can move in by September, or even August for those more eager to get started, joining the already established 16 enterprises on site.
The whole site is capable of supporting 108 business.
Under the direction of Laurence Garino, the team in place will organise thematic workshops and specific events in collaboration with Monegasque partners to promote networking and collaborative exchanges.
In addition to furnished workspaces, Monaco Boost also has meeting rooms, a multi-purpose room and a café, inviting all in the space to get to know each other, collaborate and form synergistic connections.
The rules to apply are that an applicant must be Monegasque, a majority managing partner with at least 60% share of the business’s capital, have proof of current ministerial authorisation, and proof of registration with the Monaco Trade and Industry register dating back less than five years.
Landings at Nice Côte d’Azur airport are set to become a lot softer thanks to the acquisition of a super-powerful lidar to detect sudden episodes of windshear, a first for any European airport.
Nice airport’s proximity to the sea, mountains and plains of the Var make it a prime locale for sudden variations in wind direction, also known as wind shear. This phenomenon can make difficulties for pilots, especially during landing phases.
Now, the airport is benefitting from one of the world’s most powerful Doppler lidars in Europe. Acquired by Météo France and built by Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, this new equipment compliments the observation systems currently in place and will make for safer journeys all around.
“We warmly thank Météo France for having acquired and implemented this lidar, which strengthens the safety of aircraft and their crews, and passenger comfort in the service of the performance of our Nice platform,” said Franck Goldnadel, Chairman of the Management Board of the Airports of the Côte d’Azur.
Lidar, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure variable distances to the Earth. A lidar is effective even in dry weather, whereas a x-band radar, the equipment used prior to the arrival of the lidar, is effective only in wet conditions as it uses raindrops and clouds to sense the patterns.
The lidar works using aerosols suspended in the atmosphere’s lower layers to measure wind by Doppler effect to follow movements. This allows forecasters to predict wind shear and its close cousin, turbulence, up to 10 minutes in advance. This allows pilots to anticipate the coming conditions and adjust during crucial take-off and landing phases.
Several airports are using the Mitsubishi lidar, notably in Southeast Asia and Japan, and Nice is the first in Europe to have access to it.
Photo source: Pixabay
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