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TOKYO – Two athletes living in the Olympic Village tested positive for COVID-19, the first to do so, with the Tokyo Games opening on Friday.
Organizers confirmed the positive tests on Sunday, and the two have been listed as non-Japanese. No names or other details were provided.
On Sunday, organizers also said another athlete had tested positive but that person was not residing in the Olympic Village. This athlete has also been identified as “non-Japanese”.
Also on Sunday, the first member of the International Olympic Committee tested positive. He recorded a positive test on Saturday when he entered an airport in Tokyo.
The International Olympic Committee confirmed the test and identified him as Ryu Seung-min from South Korea. He won an Olympic gold medal in table tennis at the 2004 Olympics.
He was reportedly held in solitary confinement. Reports indicated that he was asymptomatic.
IOC President Thomas Bach said last week that there was a “zero” risk that athletes in the village would transmit the virus to Japanese or other residents of the village.
Organizers say that since July 1, 55 people linked to the Olympics have reported positive tests. This accounting includes athletes or others who may have arrived for training camps but are not yet under the “jurisdiction” of the organizing committee.
The Tokyo Bay Olympic Village will be home to 11,000 Olympic athletes and thousands of other support staff.
Tokyo recorded 1,410 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, the highest in six months. It was the 28th day in a row that cases were higher than the previous seven days.
The Olympics will open on Friday under a state of emergency in Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures. The emergency order lasts until August 22. The Olympics end on August 8.
Fans – local and foreign – have been banned from all Olympic events in Tokyo and the three neighboring prefectures. Because few peripheral places could allow a handful of local fans.
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