Games participants pose zero virus risk, IOC says

TOKYO－International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said on Thursday there was "zero" risk of Games participants infecting the Japanese people with COVID-19, as cases hit a six-month high in the host city.

"Risk for the other residents of Olympic Village and risk for the Japanese people is zero," said Bach, adding that Olympics athletes and delegations have undergone more than 8,000 coronavirus tests. This has resulted in detecting three positive cases.

Those cases have been placed in isolation and their close contacts are also under quarantine protocols, said Bach at the beginning of talks with Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike and Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto.

On Thursday alone, the Games' organizer confirmed that one athlete, one personnel, four contract workers tested positive for COVID-19 according to Xinhua News Agency.

With just about a week to go before the July 23 opening ceremony, Tokyo reported 1,308 new COVID-19 infections on Thursday, its highest daily tally since late January.

Postponed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Summer Olympics has little public support in Japan amid widespread fears on further spread of the coronavirus.

Critics of the Olympics submitted a petition on Thursday, garnering more than 450,000 signatures this month, according to Japanese media.

On the same day, a city official said eight athletes from the Kenyan women's rugby team were classified as close contacts of a passenger on their flight to Tokyo who tested positive for the coronavirus.

The team was set to hold a training camp at Kurume city in southwestern Japan. The athletes had all tested negative on arrival at the airport, and will be staying at an accommodation facility in Tokyo until the Games.

Emergency state

Tokyo entered its fourth state of emergency earlier this week amid a rebound in COVID-19 cases that pushed Games organizers to ban spectators from nearly all venues.

New infections in Tokyo averaged 882.1 per day in the week to Thursday, compared with 663.6 from the previous week.

At a ministerial meeting on Wednesday, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said the government would facilitate thorough measures to prevent new cases and ensure a smooth rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations.

Bach said on Wednesday that strict coronavirus measures are in place, with high vaccination rates among participants, limited mobility for athletes and support staff members, spectators banned and continuous testing.

XINHUA