First Covid case hits Tokyo Olympics Village as ‘foreign national’ tests positive and is quarantined
First Covid case hits the Tokyo Olympics Village: Organisers say ‘foreign national’ has tested positive at compound where 11,000 athletes are staying with six days until opening ceremony
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Tokyo Olympics organisers have detected the first Covid-19 case inside the Games Village – just six days before the opening ceremony.
According to Japanese media, the infected person is a ‘foreign national’ who tested positive on Friday and is now ‘confined to a hotel.’
The nationality of the individual is not being disclosed to ‘protect their privacy’ but officials said they are part of the organising team.
The case is the first to be detected at the 44-hectare athletes’ village on Tokyo’s waterfront – where officials and the majority of the 11,000 competing athletes will be staying over the coming weeks.
Teams from all four corners of the globe are just starting to arrive for the Games, which will run from July 23 to August 8.
Organisers have sought to ease safety concerns but the event, which has been delayed by a year due to the pandemic, is receiving pushback from large parts of the Japanese public who fear a fresh wave of infections could wreak havoc on the country’s health system – especially as only 20% of the population is fully vaccinated.
Protestors took to the streets of the Japanese capital in June and held up signs reading ‘Cancel the Tokyo Olympics’.
It came after a survey by the leading Asahi Shimbun newspaper in May found that 83% of the Japanese public do not want the Games to happen.
Speaking on the new Covid case discovered within the Athletes’ Village, Masa Takaya, spokesman for the Tokyo organising committee, told a press conference: ‘There was one person in the Village.
‘That was the very first case in the Village that was reported during the screening test.
Security staff guard the entrance of the Athletes Village in Tokyo, Japan, where an organiser has tested positive for Covid-19
Members of the Canadian Olympic team stand outside a facility outside the Games Village, where a person has tested positive for Covid-19
The opening ceremony is set to take place at the new National Stadium in Tokyo (pictured), which was completed in 2019 at a cost of more than £1 billion
A convoy of 75 buses perform a test run of transporting athletes to the Olympic Village in Tokyo
National teams have already begun arriving to the Athletes Village and have been seen hanging flags from the balconies of their rooms
Brazil’s team have unfurled six banners carrying their country’s name, with each one spreading across six floors
People stand being protective barriers and fences as they snap a photo of the Athletes Village in Tokyo
Organisers said on Saturday a person had tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday inside the athletes’ village (pictured)
The virus was detected in a visitor from abroad who is involved in organising the Games, officials said (rooms in the Olympic Village pictured)
‘Right now this person is confined to a hotel.’
Seiko Hashimoto, the chief organiser of the Tokyo 2020 Games, said organisers were ready to respond swiftly if there was a wider outbreak.
‘We are doing everything to prevent any Covid outbreaks,’ she said.
‘If we end up with an outbreak we will make sure we have a plan in place to respond.’
Hashimoto conceded that competitors at the Games would be anxious about the virus situation – and she vowed that organisers would not hide cases.
She said: ‘Athletes who are coming to Japan are probably very worried. I understand that.
‘That is the reason why we need to make full disclosure.’
She added: ‘I understand that there are still many worrying factors.
‘Organisers must try to make sure that people will understand that these games are safe and secure,’
Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto said it was not yet known if the person who tested positive in the Olympics Village had been vaccinated against Covid-19.
Tokyo 2020’s president Seiko Hashimoto has acknowledged the public’s concerns as fearsof a fresh Covid wave mount
A police officer patrols the outer perimeter of the Athletes Village, where one organiser has tested positive for Covid-19
A man uses binoculars to take a peek at the Athletes Village, where 11,000-plus officials and athletes will stay during the Games
Italy and Germany among the dozens of countries to begin hanging their flags from their apartments at the Olympic Village in Tokyo
Members of the media are given a tour of the 44-hectare Games Village in Tokyo, which has detected its first Covid case
Olympic athletes will all stay inside tall residential buildings for the duration of their time in Japan
‘We don’t have any information on whether this person was vaccinated or not,’ Muto said.
He said competitors at the Games would be tested every day ‘so if someone tests positive, that person will be isolated immediately whether there are any close contacts or not’.
The Japanese public fear an influx of visitors may create a super-spreader event, straining an already-stretched health system.
Only around 20% of Japan is fully vaccinated against coronavirus, meaning a new wave could have serious health consequences.
So far, more than 40 people involved in the Games, including both domestic and foreign nationals, have tested positive for coronavirus.
A key part of the anti-contagion measures is daily saliva testing of the athletes who take part, as well as frequent testing of others involved in the event.
Visitors’ movements are also due to be monitored and restricted.
But in a sign that organisers were already finding rules difficult to enforce, Ugandan weightlifter Julius Ssekitoleko went missing from his team’s training site in Osaka on Friday.
People in Tokyo hold signs calling for the cancellation of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games as up to 83% of the public are outraged they are going ahead
A replica of a bedroom in the Games Village, including its furniture and cardboard beds, is pictured in a display room
Team Korea hangs its logo and recognisable flag from the balconies of its Olympic Village apartments
Athletes can also use a dry cleaning booth whilst on site, helping them to focus on the Games
Authorities are still looking for him, according to Games organisers.
Media reports said he left behind a note saying he wanted to stay and work in Japan, as life in Uganda was difficult.
Tokyo reported 1,149 new cases on Wednesday, the highest since figure in almost six months, beaten only on January 22, when 1,184 were reported.
It was also the 25th straight day that cases were higher than they were a week earlier.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach told Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga this week that 85 per cent of the athletes and officials living in the Olympic Village on Tokyo Bay will be fully vaccinated.
He added that almost 100 per cent of IOC members and IOC staff were ‘vaccinated or immune.’
Spectators have already been banned from Olympic venues to protect athletes and organisers.
The opening ceremony will take place at the new £1 billion National Stadium in Tokyo on July 23.
