Tokyo Olympics 2020: Two athletes test positive for COVID-19 in Olympic Village

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 non-athlete member who tested positive on Saturday is also still unnamed. The officials, however, added that both athletes were non-Japanese and informed that another athlete who was residing outside the Olympic Village has also tested positive. The third athlete was also identified as “non-Japanese.” 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. Also on Sunday, the first International Olympic Committee member was reported as positive. He recorded a positive test on Saturday entering a Tokyo airport. The International Olympic Committee confirmed the test and identified him as Ryu Seung-min of South Korea. He won an Olympic gold medal in table tennis in the 2004 Olympics. He was reportedly being held in isolation. Reports said he was asymptomatic. Organisers say since July 1, 55 people linked to the Olympics have reported positive tests. This accounting does include athletes or others who may have arrived for training camps but are not yet under the “jurisdiction” of the organizing committee. Additionally, 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. With inputs from AP