Tokyo Olympics: Is Olympic Village safe? Here's what IOC health advisor says

The Tokyo Olympics is less than a week away, as the athletes have reached the Japanese capital and staying at the Olympic Village. However, is the Village safe enough in this COVID-19 pandemic era? Here's what the IOC health advisor had to say.

With less than a week to go before the Tokyo Olympic 2020 gets underway, the participating athletes have settled in the Olympic Village that would be their residence for the next three weeks. The Village bolsters all the facilities and modern-day amenities, besides having all the health safety and security measures in place.

However, citing the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic, there is a concern on how safe the Village is, considering that some COVID positive cases have emerged from the Village. Speaking on the same, the health advisor of the International Olympic Committee, Brian McCloskey, has reassured that despite the cases arising, the Village continues to be the safest place for the athletes during the Games.

"Yes. We see cases currently, having been tested before departure, and they're not coming...we see people at the airport and they can get filtered there and they can get filtered when they are getting to the Village. Each layer of filtering as a reduction of risk for anybody else..., and the numbers we're seeing is actually extremely low, and probably lower than we expected to see of anything," he said during a press conference upon being asked on the safety of the Village.

The safety concerns arose after a couple of South African footballers tested positive inside the Village. While they have been transferred to a separate facility, close contacts have been placed in individual rooms to limit the physical interactions between the two.

Furthermore, McCloskey also asserted that the close contacts would be tested six hours before participating in the competition. "So, there will be nobody (with) test PCR positive on the field of play," he concluded.

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