Stiffer Olympic health measures

TOKYO • Olympic athletes will be given daily Covid-19 tests during their time in Tokyo for the delayed 2020 Games, organisers said yesterday, while introducing a number of tighter countermeasures to show the event was still on track.

Spectators from overseas have already been ruled out, and a decision on whether to allow domestic fans will be taken in June, a few weeks before the July 23-Aug 8 global sporting event.

The organisers, which include the Tokyo 2020 organising committee, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Japanese government and the International Paralympic Committee, said in a joint statement that they would "deploy all possible countermeasures and place the highest priority on safety".

With less than three months to go to the Games, and the Japanese public increasingly sceptical about their viability, the organisers were finalising a second edition of the "playbooks" that will set the rules for the staging of the event.

These include:

•Athletes and those in close contact with them will be tested every day, while all participants will be required to record two negative tests before arrival.

•Participants will not be allowed to use public transport, and will have to eat in specific locations with special hygiene measures. These include catering facilities at Games venues, their accommodation's restaurant, and their rooms, using room service or food delivery.

•All participants must also follow only the activities they have outlined in their activity plan. They must not visit any tourist areas, shops, restaurants, bars or gyms. They must also minimise contact with other participants who have already been in Japan for more than 14 days, and Japanese residents.

•Athletes and officials are also required to wear a face mask except when eating, drinking, sleeping, training or competing.

•All interviewers must wear a mask at all times and interviews with athletes - who are allowed to remove their masks when speaking - should last no more than 90 seconds.

Japan has seen a comparatively small virus outbreak, with just over 10,000 deaths, but it is now battling a fourth wave of the virus.

Parts of the country including Tokyo - which reported 925 cases yesterday - were put under a new state of emergency at the weekend.

The emergency, which is due to last until May 11, requires restaurants and bars serving alcohol to close, along with large stores, cinemas and other commercial facilities. Firms have to let staff work from home and spectators are excluded from big sports events.

Thomas Bach, the head of the IOC, told the organisers that he fully understood the decision to declare the emergency.

Speaking by video link, he said the playbooks would be strictly enforced, and that the IOC was "fully committed to the successful and safe delivery of the Olympic and Paralympic Games".

He added: "We are ready with you to take all the necessary measures to minimise the risks to make the Japanese people feel safe.

"Our top priority is health and safety for everyone - not only for the participants of the Olympic Games but, first and foremost, also of our gracious hosts, the Japanese people."

An earlier edition of the rules in February banned singing and chanting during events and mandated that participants wear masks at all times except when outdoors, sleeping or eating.

The February playbooks excluded many details, including who would be defined as a "close contact", which yesterday was classified as someone who has been within one metre, without wearing a face mask for at least 15 minutes, of a person with a confirmed positive coronavirus test.

A final version of the playbooks will be published in June, the IOC confirmed.

More than 10,000 athletes, coaches and support staff are expected to arrive in Japan for the Games, even if there will be no foreign spectators.

On the domestic front, the head of the organising committee Seiko Hashimoto said yesterday that full stadiums will be "very difficult".

She added that organisers want to have as many spectators as possible but also cannot rule out holding the event in empty stadiums.

Domestic ticket sales have not yet resumed after last year's postponement. Organisers said around 4.48 million tickets had been sold in Japan, and nearly a million for the Paralympics.

Tickets purchased by overseas fans are being refunded, and organisers added that those who bought tickets in Japan are eligible for a refund if crowd numbers are cut.

"We have to watch the situation and consider accordingly. As of now, full venues is very difficult, I understand that," Ms Hashimoto said.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BLOOMBERG