First Tokyo Olympic Village resident tests positive for COVID-19
The first resident of the Olympic Village has tested positive for COVID-19, Tokyo Olympic organizers said on Saturday.
Officials said it was not an athlete with the Games opening in just under a week on July 23.
Tokyo officials including Seiko Hashimoto, the president of the organizing committee, confirmed the case and said the positive test was Friday. Organizers say for confidentiality purposes they can only offer a vague description and few details.
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“In the current situation, that positive cases arise is something we must assume is possible,†said Toshiro Muto, the CEO of the Tokyo organizing committee.
The person is identified simply as a “games-concerned personnel.†The person is also listed as a non-resident of Japan. Tokyo officials said the person was placed in a 14-day quarantine.
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The Olympic Village on Tokyo Bay will house about 11,000 athletes during the Olympics and thousands of other staff.
IOC President Thomas Bach said this week there was “zero†risk of athletes in the village passing on the virus to Japanese or other resident of the village.
Tokyo officials said they could not give an estimate of the number of people in the village as of Saturday.
New COVID-19 cases on Saturday were reported at 1,410. They were 950 one week ago, and it marks the 28th straight day that cases were higher than a week previous. It was the highest single day since 1,485 on Jan. 21.
