Two athletes livingin the Olympic Village have tested positive for COVID-19. Organizers confirmedthe positive tests on Sunday and both were listed as non-Japanese. No names orother details were provided.
The Tokyo 2020Olympics will begin on Friday -- but concern is growing over the danger ofCovid spreading, with 55 confirmed cases now linked to the Games, includingofficials and contractors.
The Japanese public,as well as many international observers, have voiced alarm over the Games goingforward as Japan struggles to rein in its latest coronavirus outbreak.
The country saw ahuge second wave in the spring, peaking in April and May with close to 6,000new cases per day. Cases began falling in June but have risen in recent weeks,sparking fears the arrival of teams from more than 200 countries could turn theGames into a global super-spreader event.
As of Friday, morethan 15,000 Olympic individuals had entered Japan, according to Thomas Bach,president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The Olympic Village,containing 21 residential buildings, will house about 11,000 athletes.
Olympic officialshave been at pains to play down the health risks of the Games, which are takingplace in stringent anti-coronavirus conditions with athletes tested daily.
"Mingling andcrossing of populations is very limited. We keep the risk to an absoluteminimum level," Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi said onSunday.
"We can ensurethat transmission between the various groups is almost impossible."
Tokyo 2020 CEOToshiro 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 atVillage have raised concerns regarding hosting the Games amid the coronavirus crisis,IOC chief Thomas Bach on Saturday once again asked the local Japanese people toback the Olympics.
"I appeal to theJapanese people to welcome these athletes here for the competition of theirlife," Bach said, adding that Games were safe, calling them the"most restrictive sports event... in the entire world".
"I would likeonce more to ask and to invite the Japanese people, humbly, to welcome andsupport the athletes from around the world," he added.
Meanwhile, the Indianathletes continue to arrive in Tokyo. The first batch of athletesfrom India left for Japan on Saturday and arrived this morning.