The identity of the athletes who have tested positive has not been revealed by the organisers. It comes a day after an official became the first in the Village to test positive.
Police officers stand near the entrance to the athlete’s village for the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics. AP
A day after an official tested COVID-19
positive, two athletes have returned positive tests in the Olympic Village which will house thousands of competitors for the Games. The athletes are the first competitors to test positive while staying at the Village.
The identity of the athletes has not been revealed by the officials. The official who tested positive on Saturday is also still unnamed.
The Olympic Village, a complex of apartments and dining areas, will house 6,700 athletes and officials at its peak when the Olympics, delayed from last year over the pandemic, finally get underway on 23 July.
According to official numbers, 10 new cases linked to the Games have emerged since 1 July, taking the total in this period to 55.
The official was removed from the Village yesterday and shifted into a hotel to isolate him from others.
“There was one person in the Village. That was the very first case in the Village that was reported during the screening test,” Masa Takaya, spokesman for the Tokyo organising committee had said.
“Right now this person is confined to a hotel.”
Also, an unnamed staff member of the Czech Republic Olympic team tested positive for the virus after landing in Tokyo on Saturday. At least five athletes have earlier tested positive after reaching Japan for the Games.
Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto has said that they are taking all the strict measures to conduct “safe” Games including testing every day, and those testing positive “will be isolated immediately whether there are any close contacts or not.”
While the cases at Village have raised concerns regarding hosting the Games amid the coronavirus crisis, IOC chief Thomas Bach on Saturday once again asked the local Japanese people to back the Olympics.
“I appeal to the Japanese people to welcome these athletes here for the competition of their life,” Bach said, adding that Games were safe, calling them the “most restrictive sports event… in the entire world”.
“I would like once more to ask and to invite the Japanese people, humbly, to welcome and support the athletes from around the world,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Indian athletes continue to arrive in Tokyo. The first batch of athletes from India left for Japan on Saturday and arrived this morning.
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