Tokyo Olympics 2020: 21 new COVID-19 cases related to Games reported, no athletes among them

Tokyo: Twenty-one new COVID-19 cases related to the Olympics were reported by the organisers on Saturday, none of them athletes, amid surging infections in the host city. Out of the total new cases, 14 were contractors and seven Games-linked officials. Sixteen are residents of Japan and five from overseas. None of them were staying in the Olympic village, the organising committee said. The cumulative COVID-19 cases related to the Games now stand at 241. As of Thursday, 40,558 people from overseas had arrived in Japan to take part in the Games, the organisers said. On Friday, the organisers had announced 27 new COVID-19 cases linked with the Olympics, including three athletes, the highest daily count so far. The three athletes included US pole vaulter Sam Kendricks, a two-time world champion, who on Thursday pulled out of the Games after testing positive for the virus. Friday’s figure in Games-related cases came a day after Tokyo reported over 3,000 new infections for the fourth straight day, and the nationwide single-day count topped 10,000 for the first time. The organisers and the International Olympic Committee have insisted that the showpiece is not behind the record upswing in the host city. Authorities are alarmed by the surging cases in the Japanese capital which is in a state of emergency.