- Title: COVID levels low at Olympics, athletes' village is safe say organisers
- Date: 19th July 2021
- Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (JULY 19, 2021) (REUTERS) NEWS CONFERENCE WITH TOKYO ORGANISING COMMITTEE OF THE OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC GAMES (TOCOG) SPOKESPERSON MASA TAKAYA (SOUNDBITE) (English) TOCOG SPOKESPERSON, MASA TAKAYA, SAYING: "As of yesterday, 22,000 people (have) arrived in Japan, so looking into the positivity rate on COVID among those people in the Olympic community the number must be nearly 0.1 per cent." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) TOCOG SPOKESPERSON, MASA TAKAYA, SAYING: "In the same group the rest of the, as I said there are three positive cases, these athletes and the team itself were isolated straight after they were found as positive. And the rest of the group were requested to stay in their room and then they have been able to follow the instruction. And today, I can say that the number is 21. They were, indeed, requested to stay in their rooms, we of course provide meals and drinks to the room directly by Tokyo 2020 staff members, and the team is following the instruction." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) TOCOG SPOKESPERSON, MASA TAKAYA, SAYING: "Before either the competitions or training sessions, within six hours before those either training sessions or sports competitions, they have to take once again tests, PCR tests, to prove that they are negative, so that they would be able to participate in those training and sports competitions. So that's the strict guidelines we are set. We are working closely with the IOC experts on those facilities, in order to fully implement how we will be able to let those close contacted athletes players, players, are able to participate in their respective competitions." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) TOCOG SPOKESPERSON, MASA TAKAYA, SAYING: "The IOC and Tokyo 2020 are absolutely clear that the Olympic Village is a safe place to stay." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) TOCOG SPOKESPERSON, MASA TAKAYA, SAYING: "The fact is we are here only four days before the openings and we're here with you, like you, people (are) coming from every corner of the world in this very challenging time, where people are split apart because of the COVID-19. And I feel, even in this room, that there is a growing speech of solidarity, which is something we want to convey from Tokyo, Japan to people across the world throughout their games time." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS
- Embargoed: 2nd August 2021 07:12
- Keywords: COVID-19 IOC International Olympic Committee Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 coronavirus
- Location: TOKYO, JAPAN
- City: TOKYO, JAPAN
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Asia / Pacific,Olympics,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA001EMIAA87
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: COVID-19 levels at the Olympics are low and the athletes' village is safe, Tokyo 2020 organisers said on Monday (July 19).
The comments came after two South African footballers tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday (July 18). Tokyo 2020 spokesperson Masa Takaya said there had been three more cases of COVID-19 confirmed, but none among athletes.
In total, 61 cases connected to the Olympics have been established, 33 among Japanese residents and a further 28 from those travelling to Japan from abroad.
Takaya said level of COVID-19 infections at the Olympics so far compared well to those among the general Japanese population. According to Reuters data, there are 0.16 cases per 1,000 people in Japan.
"The IOC and Tokyo 2020 are absolutely clear that the Olympic Village is a safe place to stay," said Takaya at a news conference in Tokyo on Monday.
He added that measures were being put in place in an attempt to allow the South African soccer team - which has 21 players self isolating - to train ahead of their opening fixture on Thursday (July 22).
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