Tokyo Paralympic Games Officials Report First Virus Case in Athletes' Village

The Tokyo Paralympic Games organising committee on Saturday confirmed the first two cases of Covid-19 inside the Athletes' Village.

With two days to go for the opening ceremony, the latest figures released by the organising committee reveal a total of 15 new cases in the last 24 hours. No athlete has reported positive so far as the two cases from the Village are among the staff, though a large number of participants have reached Tokyo, and some are still in quarantine.

Of the 15 cases confirmed on Saturday, five are from among 'Games Related Persons', which includes representatives of the International Paralympic Committee, the International Olympic Committee, National Olympic Committees and international federations.

The remaining 10 cases have been reported from among the Paralympic Games contractors and their workers. Those who tested positive have been isolated.

Till now, 101 confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been reported in relation to the Paralympic Games since August 12. The Paralympic Games will start on August 24 and will continue till September 5.

The Tokyo 2020 organising committee, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Government of Japan have put in place elaborate protocols to test, isolate and trace contact to avoid a Covid-19 outbreak among the 10,000 people expected to reach Tokyo for the Paralympic Games, including 4,400 athletes. To restrict numbers, screening starts at the airport itself.

The Tokyo Olympic Games that ended on August 8 had reported 167 cases in all from more than 63,000 tests conducted since July 1.

Japan has been struggling to secure hospital beds in the wake of a resurgence of infections, with a record 25,876 new cases confirmed across the country on Friday, including 5,405 cases in Tokyo.

The country also faces challenges such as taking care of COVID patients recuperating at home and speeding up the vaccination program, according to a report by news agency Kyodo.

This has resulted in Japan's governors urging the central government on Friday to consider imposing a lockdown to better contain a spike in Covid-19 cases. The National Governors' Association has called the current measures "ineffective" in fighting the highly contagious Delta variant rapidly spreading across the country.