Two athletes living in the Olympic Village for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics here have tested positive for COVID-19, the organizers have confirmed.
Olympic rings stand outside Narita International Airport near Tokyo (courtesy: AP)
Tokyo Olympic organizers on Sunday reported three new cases of COVID-19 infection among athletes, up from one new case a day earlier, as the population of the athlete’s village swells ahead of the start of the pandemic-hit Games next week.
The contestants are the first athletes to test positive for the virus while in the village.
Another unnamed athlete has also tested positive upon arrival in the Japanese capital, Tokyo 2020, but is not a resident of the village.
The cases came to light a day after an unidentified man became the first to test positive in the village, which will house thousands of contestants during the Games.
Olympic organizers reported the first case of COVID-19 in the athletes’ village on Saturday, along with 14 other new cases linked to the Games starting next week, raising fresh doubts over promises of a “safe and secure” event . Tokyo 2020 confirmed there have been 10 new infections linked to the Games in Japan since July 1, bringing the total infections in that period to 55.
An International Olympic Committee member from South Korea has tested positive for the novel coronavirus and has been isolated after arriving in Tokyo for the Olympic Games on Saturday.
Ryu Seung-min, who won Olympic table tennis gold in men’s singles in 2004, was diagnosed with the virus after landing at Narita International Airport.
Ryu, who was part of the IOC’s Athletes Commission, said he had tested negative twice before traveling to Japan. The 2020 Games were postponed by a year due to the global pandemic and are mostly being held without spectators and under stringent quarantine rules.
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