First COVID-19 case reported in Tokyo Olympic Village
The games, which were canceled last year due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, are slated to take place between July 23rd and August 8th with no spectators and under strict health protocols.
- The very first Olympic Village coronavirus case reported on screening test.
- Previously, a Nigerian delegate was the first gaming visitor to be hospitalized with COVID-19 in his 60s.
- Authorities are also trying to track down a Ugandan weightlifter who failed to show up for a COVID-19 test and disappeared from his hotel room.
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games officials announced that the first COVID-19 case was reported just seven days before the Olympic Village Games opened date in Tokyo, Japan. The event is scheduled to begin on July 23rd and will take place with no spectators and under strict health protocols.
“This was the very first case in the village that was reported during the screening test,” said Masa Takaya, spokesman for the organizing committee, today.
Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto confirmed that the infected person is a foreigner who is involved in organizing the games. The nationality of the person was not disclosed for data protection reasons.
Japanese media also reported that a Nigerian delegate was the first game visitor to be hospitalized with COVID-19 in the 1960s. The person tested positive for the virus at the airport on Thursday and was hospitalized.
Japanese authorities are also trying to track down a 20-year-old Ugandan weightlifter, Julius Ssekitoleko, who failed to show up for a COVID-19 test and went missing at his hotel in Izumisano, Osaka Prefecture yesterday. He reportedly left a message saying he did not want to return to Uganda.
The games, which were canceled last year due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, are slated to take place between July 23rd and August 8th with no spectators and under strict health protocols.
Tokyo is said to remain in a state of emergency for the duration of the tournament due to the rise in infections. The Japanese capital reported 1,271 new cases yesterday, the third day in a row that the daily surge shot above 1,000.
A group of protesters marched past an Olympic venue in Tokyo on Friday calling for the Games to be canceled.
The latest national polls showed that the majority of Japanese would like the Games to be canceled or postponed.
