Zero risk? Virus cases test Olympic organizers’ assurances after at least two athletes already sick

Video above: Bach hopes Japanese public will assist Video games

Two South African soccer gamers turned the primary athletes contained in the Olympic Village to check optimistic for COVID-19, and different instances linked to the Tokyo Video games had been additionally confirmed Sunday, highlighting the herculean activity organizers face to maintain the virus contained whereas the world’s greatest sports activities occasion performs out.

The optimistic checks got here as a number of the 11,000 athletes and 1000’s extra group officers anticipated from throughout the globe started arriving, having traveled by means of a pandemic to get to Tokyo.

They’re going to all now stay in shut quarters within the Olympic Village on Tokyo Bay over the subsequent three weeks.

Worldwide Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach mentioned final week there was “zero” danger of athletes passing on the virus to Japanese or different residents of the village. However that daring assertion was already being examined.

The Olympics, which had been postponed for a yr due to the pandemic, are set to formally open on Friday and run till Aug. 8.

The 2 soccer gamers and a group video analyst who additionally examined optimistic had been moved to “the Tokyo 2023 isolation facility,” the South African Olympic committee mentioned. The remainder of the squad members and officers had additionally been quarantined.

These optimistic checks additional stoked native fears, with the South African group scheduled to play in opposition to host nation Japan in its first recreation on Thursday.

There has already been constant opposition from the Japanese public to holding the Olympics through the pandemic, with fears that it may turn out to be a super-spreader occasion and trigger a spike in infections amongst Japanese folks.

Bach and the IOC have insisted it will likely be secure and have solid forward in opposition to most medical recommendation. The IOC says it sees the Video games as an opportunity to foster worldwide solidarity throughout tough instances, however the IOC would additionally lose billions of {dollars} in broadcast rights if the Video games had been to be canceled fully.

Additionally Sunday, Group South Africa confirmed the coach of its rugby sevens group additionally examined optimistic at a pre-Olympics coaching camp within the southern Japanese metropolis of Kagoshima. He was additionally in isolation there and would miss all the rugby competitors, the group mentioned.

And there have been different Olympics-related optimistic checks. Olympic organizers mentioned that one other athlete had examined optimistic, though they weren’t residing within the Olympic Village. The athlete was not named and solely recognized as “non-Japanese.”

The primary Worldwide Olympic Committee official was reported as optimistic. He recorded a optimistic check on Saturday when arriving at a Tokyo airport. The IOC confirmed the check and recognized him as IOC member Ryu Seung-min of South Korea. He was reportedly being held in isolation, too.

Former distance runner and world championship bronze medalist Tegla Loroupe, the chief of mission of the IOC’s Refugee Olympic Group, examined optimistic for COVID-19 earlier than the group was to depart its Doha, Qatar, coaching base for Tokyo, two folks with data of her situation instructed the AP. The group delayed its arrival in Tokyo whereas Loroupe is predicted to remain behind, in keeping with the 2 folks, who requested anonymity as a result of they weren’t licensed to disclose medical data.

Organizers say that 55 folks linked to the Olympics in Japan have reported optimistic checks since July 1, however that determine doesn’t embody athletes or others who might have arrived for coaching camps however should not but underneath the “jurisdiction” of the organizing committee.

Tokyo reported 1,008 new COVID-19 instances on Sunday, the twenty ninth straight day that instances had been increased than seven days beforehand. It was additionally the fifth straight day with greater than 1,000 instances. The Olympics will open underneath a state of emergency in Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures.

No followers, Japanese or international, can be allowed at any of the Olympic sports activities in Tokyo and the three neighboring prefectures. A number of outlying venues might permit a small variety of native followers, however it has successfully turn out to be a TV-only occasion.

About 200 protesters gathered Sunday outdoors Shinjuku station in central Tokyo, waving indicators that learn “No Olympics.” It was the most recent in a collection of small protests in opposition to the Video games in the previous couple of months.

“That is ignoring human rights and our proper to life,” protester Karoi Todo instructed the AP. “Infections are rising. To do the Olympics is unforgivable.”

Japanese and IOC organizers hope stringent testing protocols, the place athletes, group officers and others are examined every day, will mitigate the dangers posed by the 1000’s of foreigners arriving without delay. Visiting athletes, officers and media can be in a “tender quarantine” scenario and restricted to the Olympic venues, the village and designated motels, and can be evaded the Japanese basic public. The IOC additionally says greater than 80% of the athletes set to compete in Tokyo can be vaccinated in opposition to COVID-19.

However, regardless of the assurances, the optimistic checks 5 days out from the opening ceremony confirmed the laws aren’t — and cannot be — foolproof.

The South African group’s chief medical officer mentioned each member of the group had two unfavourable checks earlier than touring to Japan “as per Tokyo 2023 necessities.” Additionally they examined unfavourable on arrival in Tokyo, Dr. Phatho Zondi mentioned.

“Group (South Africa) officers and administration have adopted all related Olympic Playbook guidelines, protocols and procedures all through the pre-Video games and Video games arrival routines,” the South African Olympic committee mentioned.

Coach Neil Powell and all the South Africa rugby squad had been held at a quarantine facility after arriving in Japan due to a optimistic COVID check on their flight, Group South Africa mentioned. They had been cleared to depart, just for Powell to check optimistic a number of days later.

Powell had been vaccinated in opposition to COVID-19 with the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine in South Africa on Could 24, group spokesman JJ Harmse instructed the AP.

South African Olympic and soccer officers did not instantly verify whether or not the 2 soccer gamers and official who examined optimistic had been vaccinated, though South Africa’s Olympic committee mentioned in Could it will supply all its Olympic athletes the J&J vaccine.

The Olympics had been successfully over earlier than they started for the 2 soccer gamers and Powell as they must stay in quarantine for 14 days underneath Japanese laws.

The one means the soccer gamers would possibly be capable to play is that if their group made the semifinals. Powell would positively miss all the rugby competitors and his Olympic expertise will contain being saved in isolation in a room for 2 weeks earlier than flying again residence.

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Imray reported from Cape City, South Africa.

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Extra AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/olympic-games and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports