Tokyo Olympics: In another setback for Tokyo Olympics organisers and the Japanese government, a Lithuanian and an Israeli athlete have tested positive for COVID-19 as per Reuters. The athletes become latest to test positive less than three weeks ahead of the Summer Games amid a state of emergency due to the pandemic.
Last week, a Serbian and a Ugandan athlete tested positive for the virus, dealing a huge blow to the Games. While the athlete has been isolated, the authorities will be tracing close contacts and isolate them as well. It comes at a time when the organisers have decided to ban spectators from the venues including local ones even from the Opening Ceremony on July 23.
As per a report by NHK, the member of the Israeli contingent has been put into isolation now while others are being retested isolate and officials will check whether other members of the delegation came in close contact with the athlete in question. Israel have sent their largest delegation in history for the Tokyo Olympics, with a total of 89 athletes in 15 sports.
Israeli Athlete Tests Positive: The test was conducted as Israeli athletes and staff took tests upon arrival at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on Friday. The country is amongst the Top 30 biggest delegations at the games and has sent more than twice the number of athletes they had for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
The two incidents on Friday take the tally to five confirmed COVID-19 cases in Tokyo Olympics after two members of the Ugandan delegation and one Serb athlete tested positive after arriving in Japan for pre-Tokyo Olympics training camps.
Lithuanian Athlete Tokyo Olympics: The Serbian athlete, a member of the rowing team and in the 30s, was found to have the novel coronavirus based on an antigen test conducted at Tokyo’s Haneda airport upon arrival on Saturday according to Japan’s leading news agency Kyodo News. The athlete has been isolated, according to the officials.
Israeli Athlete Tokyo Olympics: Four others who travelled with the athlete have been transferred to a facility near the airport. They had all been scheduled to travel to their host town in Nanto, Toyama Prefecture, for training.
The Nanto city government said the training is likely to be cancelled and that none of its personnel who went to pick up the team at the airport had any contact with them.
Tokyo Olympics – Lithuanian Athlete Tokyo Olympics: The latest revelation comes amid scrutiny over Japan’s border measures after two members of the Ugandan Olympic delegation tested positive for the coronavirus last month.
One tested positive upon arriving at Narita airport near Tokyo. The rest of the team, however, was allowed to travel by chartered bus to Izumisano, Osaka Prefecture, where another member was later found to have the virus.
Tokyo Olympics: 40% of Tokyo Olympics’ sessions could be staged without spectators
Tokyo Olympics – No Spectators at Olympics: Amid a rise in Covid-19 cases in Japan, about 40 percent of sessions, or time slots, of the Tokyo Olympics will be held without spectators as the current attendance cap of 10,000 people per venue has been lowered to 5,000 as part of precautions against a potential fresh wave of coronavirus infections, officials involved in the planning process said Saturday.
In the wake of a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Tokyo, the organizing committee and the Japanese government are finding it increasingly difficult to stick to the 10,000-spectator cap and they have begun to look at an alternative. The most likely option now on the table is to allow up to 5,000 local fans at each venue of the Olympics, due to begin July 23. The estimate of 40 percent is based on the assumption that all events with over 5,000 ticket holders and those taking place after 9 p.m. will be held behind closed doors, according to the officials.
Such events include the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as baseball, soccer and athletics. There are a total of 750 sessions and more than 300 of them will be staged without spectators if the revised cap is applied, said the officials of the organizers, who spoke on condition of anonymity to Kyodo News.
