The president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, has urged the Japanese public to welcome the Olympics when it starts on 23 July and insisted they will be “safe and secure” despite a positive Covid test at the athletes’ village.
While acknowledging the widespread scepticism in Japan, Bach said that more than 15,000 people had arrived for the Olympics, with 15 testing positive. He also said the Games would be the most restrictive sporting event in the world, thus limiting the possibility of widespread infections.
Toshiro Muto, the chief executive of the Tokyo Olympic organising committee, confirmed today that a visitor from abroad who is involved in organising the Games had tested positive. He would not reveal the person’s nationality, citing privacy concerns, but said they had been placed in a 14-day quarantine.
The case is a concern to organisers and the IOC, which had promised the village would be the “safest place” in Tokyo, but Bach said it was important to look at the wider picture. At the first IOC press conference of these Games, he said the rate of positive tests was “very low at just 0.1%”.
“It goes without saying that all the people were immediately isolated and they do not [present] any risk to the Japanese people,” he added.
Japan’s public has been lukewarm about the Games after a resurgence in new coronavirus infections and worries that an influx of foreign visitors may help turn it into a super-spreader event, which in turn could put further strain on the country’s already stretched medical system.
But Bach said: “We are very well aware of the scepticism in Japan. My appeal to the Japanese people is to welcome these athletes who are here for their competition of their lives and to acknowledge that is not for any price.
“They have the same interest as the Japanese people in ensuring these Games are safe and secure. And for this they accept and even welcome measures that make these Olympics the most restricted sports event not only in Japan but in the entire world.
“What will make the Games so historic is the demonstration that they can happen in a safe and secure way, even under the circumstances of this pandemic.”
At least five athletes have tested positive for Covid-19 since arriving in Japan for the Games, while the Refugee Olympic Team was forced to delay travelling to Tokyo after one of its delegation also returned a positive test.
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