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Reuters

Tokyo Olympics organisers on Saturday reported the first case of Covid-19 at the athletes’ village, along with 14 other new infections connected to the Games which begin next week, raising fresh doubts over promises of a “safe and secure” event.
Organisers confirmed that a visitor from abroad who was working for the Olympics tested positive during a routine check on Friday. The person’s nationality was not revealed due to privacy concerns.
“That was the very first case in the village that was reported during the screening test,” Masa Takaya, spokesman for the Tokyo organising committee, told a press conference.
“Right now this person is confined to a hotel,” Takaya said.
Covid-19 cases among Olympics teams likely ‘tip of the iceberg’: expert
The other cases included two members of the media, seven contractors and five Games personnel.
The case at the athletes’ village, a 44-hectare site built on Tokyo’s waterfront, is particularly worrying as a majority of the 11,000 competitors will be staying there.
The 2020 Games, postponed for a year due to the global pandemic, is being held mostly without spectators and under tight quarantine rules.
Most athletes are starting to arrive for the Games, which run from July 23 through August 8.


Japan’s public has been lukewarm about the Games amid a resurgence in new coronavirus infections and worries that an influx of visitors may create a superspreader event, straining an already-stretched medical system. Only around 20 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated.
The International Olympic Committee on Saturday said it was aware of scepticism within Japan about staging the Games during a pandemic but it is hoping success on the field of play for the host nation could change the mood.
“We are well aware of the scepticism a number of people have here in Japan. My appeal to the Japanese people is to welcome the athletes for their competitions,” IOC President Thomas Bach told a news conference.
“We ask and invite the Japanese people, humbly, to welcome and support the athletes from around the world. They [athletes] have the same interest as the Japanese people for a safe and secure Games,” he said.
Will Tokyo Olympics with no fans affect how athletes perform?
Although Japan has escaped the explosive outbreaks of other nations, it has more than 820,000 cases and about 15,000 deaths. The number of new infections in host city Tokyo, which is in its fourth state of emergency over the virus, has been over 1,000 for four straight days.
Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto acknowledged the public’s concerns.
“I understand that there are still many worrying factors. Organisers must try to make sure that people will understand that these games are safe and secure,” she told a news conference on Saturday.
“We are doing everything to prevent any Covid outbreaks. If we end up with an outbreak we will make sure we have a plan in place to respond.”

So far, more than 40 people involved in the Games, including Japanese and foreigners, have tested positive.
Toshiro Muto, chief of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee, said on Saturday that officials were working on the assumption that there would be positive Covid-19 cases.
A key part of the anti-contagion measures is daily saliva testing of the athletes who take part, as well as frequent testing of others involved in the event. Visitors’ movements are also due to be monitored and restricted.
But in a sign that organisers were already finding rules difficult to enforce, Ugandan weightlifter Julius Ssekitoleko went missing from his team’s training site in Osaka on Friday.
Authorities are still looking for him, according to Games organisers. Media reports said he left behind a note saying he wanted to stay and work in Japan, as life in Uganda was difficult.
Critics of the Games in Japan earlier this week submitted a petition against the event that has garnered more than 450,000 signatures this month.
“The Japanese can have this confidence [of a safe and secure Games] and we will try to continue this dialogue with them, knowing we will not succeed 100 per cent,” Bach said.
“But we are also confident once the Japanese people will see the Japanese athletes successfully performing in the Olympic Games then the attitude may become less emotion, for not saying less aggressive.”


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A tourist ship cruises past the Olympic Village in Tokyo on Saturday. Photo: EPA-EFE

People stand next to fences as they take pictures of the Athletes Village, where a person has tested positive for COVID-19, ahead of Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan July 17, 2021. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

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The buildings which will host the athletes during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Photo: AFP

(FILES) This file photo taken on June 20, 2021 shows a view of the main dining hall of the Olympic Village during a media tour of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Village in Tokyo. - Even under ordinary circumstances, feeding an Olympic Village is a mammoth task, with chefs preparing tens of thousands of meals a day for elite athletes from around the world, but at Tokyo 2020, there's an added pressure: strict virus rules forbid athletes from eating at local restaurants. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP) / TO GO WITH Oly-2020-2021-Japan-virus-health-food,FOCUS by Natsuko Fukue

(FILES) In this file photo taken on June 20, 2021, a member of the media wearing a Paralympic T-shirt reports from the "Village Plaza" during a media tour of the Olympic Village for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games in Tokyo. - For athletes competing at the Tokyo Games, the Olympic Village will be almost all they see, with strict coronavirus rules preventing them from leaving the compound except to train and compete. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP) / TO GO WITH Oly-2020-2021-Japan-health-virus-Village,FOCUS by Etienne Balmer

(FILES) This file photo taken on June 20, 2021 shows recyclable cardboard beds and mattresses for athletes during a media tour at the Olympic and Paralympic Village for the Tokyo 2020 Games in Tokyo. - For athletes competing at the Tokyo Games, the Olympic Village will be almost all they see, with strict coronavirus rules preventing them from leaving the compound except to train and compete. (Photo by Akio KON / POOL / AFP) / TO GO WITH Oly-2020-2021-Japan-health-virus-Village,FOCUS by Etienne Balmer

The main dining hall and the “tap water station” at the Olympic Village which will be used by the athletes during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Photo: AFP

Tokyo Olympics organisers will supply 150,000 condoms but urge athletes to keep their distance

The Tokyo Olympic Games are due to open on July 23. Photo: AFP

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The person, whose nationality was not revealed, is confined to a hotel
The case at the 44-hectare facility is particularly worrying as a majority of the 11,000 competitors will be staying there



The person, whose nationality was not revealed, tested positive during a routine check on Friday.


Coronavirus pandemic

Coronavirus pandemic: All stories

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IOC (International Olympic Committee)