Tokyo: The Japanese Olympic head said Monday there was “impossible” to ensure zero the case of the virus among the team arrived for the Tokyo match, when officials were preparing to tighten filtering procedures.
President of the Japanese Olympic Committee Yasuhiro Yamashita said “thorough steps” will be needed at the airport, after two Ugandan team members were tested positive last week after their arrival in Japan.
“No matter what steps are enforced, it is impossible for us to have a positive zero case,” Yamashita told reporters.
“Even if you have two vaccine doses, it doesn’t guarantee every individual will be negative.” On Sunday, a Games official said the team had to be isolated if they arrived in Japan with infected team members.
“To ensure no cluster that appears, we need to have comprehensive steps on the border when entering Japan,” Yamashita said, adding that daily virus testing would also help reduce the risk of spreading infection.
Read Alsoup to 10,000 fans allowed at the Tokyo Olympics: organizersUp up to 10,000 fans will be permitted at Tokyo Olympic events, said organizers said Monday, warning competitions can move behind closed doors if the infection increases.
But he hopes the athlete will have a “positive memory” game, despite the “severe limit” which means they can’t even leave the Olympic village to buy souvenirs.
Yamashita, a former Judo Olympic gold medalist, said he sympathized with athletes, who would be locked up in the village when they did not practice or compete.
“How can international athletes have time to relax and create positive memories?” “Of course, the top priority is to make it safe and safe, but I think we need to try to provide such athletes,” Yamashita said.
Some famous athletes have said they will not compete in Tokyo, with the latest Serena Williams tennis star to come out on Sunday.
Williams did not give a reason for the withdrawal, but the ban on family members at the Olympics would separate him from his daughter.
Read Alsotokyo Olympics: Japan to request athletes from India, others for more Covid-19 tests plan to request Olympic athletes from India and five other countries hit hard by a very contagious Delta variant from Coronavirus to undergo daily virus tests for seven days before Go for the game, the Japanese newspaper said on Sunday.
At present, all foreign athletes are asked to sign a written promise that promises to comply with antivirus rules in Tokyo, including staying away from tourist areas, shops, and bars, limiting contact with others, and do not use public transportation.
Yamashita, who won gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics but missed the 1980 Moscow match because Japan boycotted the event, the athlete would feel “difficult” to spend so long inside.
“I think the athletes will spend their time here in Japan in very limited conditions,” he said.
“I think this is something we need to understand, and don’t think of athletes as strong and selfish-willed.” Read Alsolympics Countdown: a complete list of Indian athletes who have qualified for the Tokyo match so that the total of 103 Indian athletes in 17 sports categories has so far qualified or named in the last squad by the federations of each for the Tokyo Olympics scheduled to begin in July.
23.Yamashita regretted the fact that the restriction of the virus and a ban on foreign fans came to Japan meaning Tokyo games would not be a cultural exchange that was waiting for.
But he still thinks the event can leave a meaningful inheritance.
“There is a feeling that the Olympics become big and wasteful,” he said.
“I believe we have been given the opportunity to rethink what the Olympics are.
I think that’s where Tokyo’s game can be significant.”