Cop is first torch relay virus case

TOKYO • Tokyo 2020 Olympics organisers reported the first Covid-19 infection from the nationwide torch relay yesterday, as the pandemic continues to play havoc with the massive event.

They said an unnamed police officer in his 30s, who had been helping with the relay in the western island of Shikoku, had tested positive for the coronavirus.

The officer was guiding traffic in the town of Naoshima on Saturday and came down with a fever on Sunday, the Asahi newspaper reported, citing the organisers and prefectural police. The man wore a mask and had no contact with runners, the report said.

Organisers pledged to work with the medical authorities to "take the precautions needed to put on a safe and secure torch relay".

It was the first reported case related to the relay, which has been forced off public roads in some areas over infection fears.

The historic city of Kyoto is the latest to express doubts, with the Asahi reporting that the city's government may suggest holding the relay off roads and inside the city's Nijo Castle - a Unesco world heritage site.

The torch was carried around a closed course at a park in nearby Osaka last week, with the public kept away.

Okinawa in southern Japan and Matsuyama city in the west of the country have also scrapped the relay over rising Covid-19 cases.

Organisers insist the relay, which involves around 10,000 runners passing through all 47 prefectures, can be held safely under strict antivirus guidelines.

They have, however, warned that parts of the relay could be suspended if too many spectators gather in one place.

The relay got under way on March 25, with spectators barred from the departure ceremony and first leg.

Amid concerns ahead of the July 23-Aug 8 Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Wednesday reiterated Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's remarks that a potential state of emergency that could be imposed on Tokyo is unrelated to preparations for the global sporting event.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike is preparing to request that an emergency period be declared from next Thursday to May 9, encompassing Japan's annual "Golden Week" holiday period, the Mainichi newspaper reported.

"We were informed there might be another state of emergency declared in Tokyo," IOC president Thomas Bach said.

"We understand that this would be a proactive measure for the 'Golden Week' holiday.

"This (state of emergency) is absolutely in line with the overall policy of the government but it is not related to the Olympic Games."

Japan has so far avoided the rapid spread of the pandemic which has plagued many Western countries, with total cases at about 540,000 and a death toll of just under 10,000.

The latest rise in infections has stoked alarm, however, coming just three months before the start of the Olympics and amid a sluggish vaccination roll-out.

The IOC also declared yesterday that taking a knee or lifting a fist in support of racial equality during the Games will be punished as it maintained its ban on athletes' protests inside stadiums, at ceremonies and on podiums.

The IOC's Rule 50 forbids any kind of "demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda" in venues and any other Olympic area and the Games body concluded that the rule should be maintained following an athlete consultation.

Against the backdrop of the Black Lives Matter movement protesting racial injustice, calls have increased in recent months for a change to that rule.

The IOC's Athletes' Commission chief Kirsty Coventry, who led a review of the rule, said the majority - around 70 per cent of 3,500 athletes consulted - were against any protests within the fields of play or the podiums.

When asked if athletes would be punished in Tokyo for making political statements, she said: "Yes that is correct. That is also because of the majority of athletes we spoke to. That is what they are requesting."

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE