KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 (NNN-Bernama) — Only three out of the over 8,000 people who arrived in Japan from July 1 to July 13 for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games tested positive for COVID-19, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Wednesday.
With nine days to go before the opening ceremony, the IOC said they were informed by the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee that the three who tested positive after arrival were immediately isolated, while their close contacts had been subject to the relevant quarantine measures.
The IOC said in a statement that all individuals were subject to the Tokyo 2020 screening tests and underwent pre-departure tests and health checks.
All athletes and officials involved in the Games, scheduled from July 23 to Aug 8, must adhere to daily testing for three consecutive days before departing and daily testing for athletes and close contacts upon arriving in Tokyo.
The international media had previously reported that two members from the Ugandan Olympic delegation last month and a member of the Serbian rowing team early this month tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival in Tokyo.
Meanwhile, IOC president Thomas Bach, who earlier met Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, expressed his gratitude to the government and people of Japan.
“Athletes from all over the world are now arriving in Tokyo. The Games will unite the world in all our diversity. They will show that we are stronger together in all our solidarity,” he said, adding that Organising Committee had done a fantastic job in preparing for the Games and to make Tokyo the best-prepared Olympic city ever.
“Achieving this is only possible because of the fantastic volunteers and their dedicated staff. The IOC are sitting in the same boat and we are rowing in the same direction, enjoying the full support of the Government of Japan. The Games will be followed by billions of people around the globe. They will admire what the Japanese people have achieved under these difficult circumstances,” he said.
— NNN-BERNAMA