Tokyo Olympics 2020: Covid positives force more than 50 athletes into isolation

There are growing concerns over the Covid cases linked to the Olympic Games. But are officials nervous? It doesn’t appear so.

The athletes’ village has been rocled by a number of Covid-positive cases. Picture: Getty Images

Tokyo 2020 medical experts were predicting higher numbers of Covid-19 cases linked to the Olympic Games despite a growing cluster claiming more than 50 athletes and officials.

There are 58 cases linked to the Olympic Games four days out from the Opening Ceremony.

Brian McCloskey, Chair of the Tokyo 2020 Independent Panel of Medical Experts, said the number of cases was “lower than we expected”.

“What we’re seeing is what we expected to see,” he said.

“If I thought all the tests that we did would be negative then I wouldn’t bother doing the tests in the first place.

“What we need to do is make sure the number is as low as possible.”

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The athletes’ village has been rocled by a number of Covid-positive cases. Picture: Getty Images

However, Dr McCloskey said organisers had not determined how many cases during the Games would be considered a good result.

“It’s impossible to predict,” he said.

“No matter what the number is it’s about how quickly we attempt to find them.”

He said pre-departure, arrival and near-daily testing would catch a person at risk of infection.

“Each layer of filtering is a reduction in the risk for everyone else,” he said.

Dr McCloskey also revealed why organisers had not mandated the vaccination of athletes before arriving in Tokyo.

“We didn’t want a situation where athletes from rich countries could come to the games but those from poor countries couldn’t,” he said.

Positive cases include four athletes, 29 contractors, five media personnel and 17 games attendants.

There are three cases inside the Olympic Village.

More than 20 members of the South African Olympic team — mainly players and support staff of the soccer team — and eight Team GB members have been placed in strict isolation as Tokyo 2020 officials and Japanese health authorities try and stem an outbreak of Covid-19.

The preparation of the South African mens soccer team is now in disarray as officials greatly expand the initial isolation of three positive cases to include nearly all team members and staff.

The situation facing the team GB track and field team is also confusing after six athletes and two staff were deemed to be close contacts of a passenger on their flight from London to Tokyo last Friday. They were among a contingent of nearly people who have been forced into “self-isolation’’ in their rooms until the authorities deem they have not contracted the virus.

Each case is treated differently but people can be held in their rooms for up to 14 days. Team GB said all of the athletes and staff had since tested negative.

“This is disappointing news for the athletes and staff, but we absolutely respect the protocols in place,” said Team GB chef de mission Mark England.

“We will offer them every support during this period and we are hopeful that they will be able resume training again soon.”

Archers practice at a training session at Yumenoshima Park Archery Field. Picture: Getty Images

But British hammer thrower Taylor Campbell was critical of team officials for elevating the risk for competitors by mixing them with the public during the flight. He said instead of putting the team members together at the back of the flight they were mixed among the public.

He said: “We asked at the desk to be moved next to other team members onto empty rows but weren’t allowed to change our seat. We have trained hard to get in this position to now risk it all on something out of our control.”

On Tuesday, reports surfaced that two Mexican baseballers and a US gymnast had tested positive.

“At the beginning of the gathering of the Mexican baseball selection two asymptomatic positive cases of Covid-19 were detected,” the Mexican Baseball Federation and the Mexican Baseball League said, adding that the players were Hector Velazquez and Sammy Solis.

The two pitchers, who play for the Acereros de Monclova, were placed in solitary confinement “immediately in their hotel rooms where the national team gathers.”

All members of the national team were tested again Monday morning with PCR tests.

The training scheduled for the evening in the Alfredo Harp Helu stadium in Mexico City was cancelled.

The Mexican baseball team, which qualified for the first time to participate in the Olympics, has kept its scheduled departure on Wednesday for Tokyo.

A female US gymnast has tested positive for coronavirus at an Olympic training camp and another athlete is self-isolating, team chiefs and Japanese officials said on Monday.

The gymnast was named by her father as 18-year-old Kara Eaker — who is in Japan as a reserve on the squad led by superstar Simone Biles.

Eaker is in isolation, along with another “close contact” on the team, her father Mark told CNN.

He said his daughter tested positive at the team’s training camp in Inzai, a city 30 kilometres east of Tokyo, and added she was not experiencing any symptoms and is fully vaccinated for Covid-19.

The test comes after Tokyo’s Olympic Village — where thousands of competitors are living in a biosecure “bubble” — was hit by a fourth coronavirus case.

“We confirmed today that a teen athlete of the team has tested positive,” said Kimiya Kosaku, an Inzai city official without naming Eaker, adding she arrived in Japan on July 15.

“Another athlete has been categorised as having close contact. She is also staying alone inside her room at their accommodation,” Kosaku said.

It comes after a Czech beach volleyball player Ondrej Perusic tested positive for Covid-19 in the Olympic Village.

Perusic submitted “a positive sample during everyday testing in the Olympic Village on Sunday, July 18”, Czech Olympic team head Martin Doktor said in a statement.

“He has absolutely no symptoms. We are dealing with all the details and... naturally the anti-epidemic measures within the team,” he added.

The Czech Olympic Committee reported a staff member had tested positive for Covid-19 upon landing in Tokyo.

Perusic’s case appears to be the fourth in the Olympic Village after spokesman Masa Takaya confirmed on Monday that 21 South Africans had been deemed close contacts of the three team personnel who have returned positive tests, two of which were staying in the athletes village.

Mr Takaya was unable to say how long the athletes would be under strict conditions, which means being isolated in their rooms until further PCR testing every day.

He said that if the athletes returned a negative test within six hours of training or competing they would be allowed to take part as long as other protocols were in place such as dedicated transport.

On Sunday officials announced the first two athletes to have tested positive in the athletes village were South African mens soccer players Thabiso Monyane and Kamohelo Mahlatsi, while a team support member and video analyst Mario Masha was also positive, but detected outside of the village.

In a further blow, the South Africa Rugby Sevens coach Neil Powell has tested positive.

A South Africa rugby sevens coach has tested positive for Covid. Picture: Getty Images

Originally the South Africa sevens team was put into isolation because a passenger on their flight last week from Doha to Japan had tested positive. The team has been staying in Kagoshima City trying to prepare for the Games, but their training has been severely impacted because of the Covid scare.

In a fresh round of tests before the team was released for training, it was announced late Sunday that Powell returned a positive test. Powell has been isolated from the team and the Japanese health authorities are continuing to monitor the players and other support staff while allowing limited training.

While it appears that Powell contracted the virus from the flight, the South Africans believe the cluster of cases in the soccer team were incubating in the last days before departing for the Games.

South African chief medical officer, Phatho Zondi, said every member of Team South Africa had tested negative in the two PCR tests within 96 hours of their flights to Tokyo.

“The timing of the positive results (of the soccer team members) suggests that the PCR test in these individuals was done during the incubation period of the infection, which is how they could be negative in South Africa and then positive in Japan,” Dr. Zondi said in a statement.

Officials said since the cluster had emerged the other members of the soccer team had been tested twice with negative test results.

In a statement the South African team said: “Team SA officials and management have followed all relevant Olympic Playbook rules, protocols, and procedures throughout the pre-Games and Games arrival routines.

“They have been tested on arrival, daily at the Olympic Village, and complied with all the mandatory measures implemented to ensure the safety of the Games participants and the people of Japan, including keeping physical distance and wearing masks at all times.”

All Olympic arrivals are Covid-tested upon arrival into Tokyo before they clear customs, and this process has picked up a handful of Covid cases including two from Uganda earlier this month and a Mozambique team member last week.