Olympic Village still safe: IOC

TOKYO: Though a total of 58 positive cases, including four athletes, have been reported from the Tokyo Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee still considers the Games Village safe and cited it as success of robust methods put in place in the Japanese capital.

A health advisor for the IOC on Covid-19 countermeasures reassured that the Olympic village is safe despite more positive cases being reported.

Brian McCloskey, chair of an independent expert panel advising the IOC on Covid-19 countermeasures, told a press conference that individual infections are expected as the related people go through different layers of filtering. He, however, said that with all the countermeasures in place, particularly the robust testing measures and quick response of isolation, the infections will not pose risks to others.

The IOC Executive Board also discussed the Covid-19 countermeasures during its meeting on Monday and expressed satisfaction with the arrangements.

The Olympic Village, a complex of apartments and dining areas in Tokyo, will house 6,700 athletes and officials at its peak when the Games get underway on Friday.

McCloskey gave a firm "yes" when asked if the Olympic village is still safe with the rising number of virus infections.

"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 (Olympic) village," he said.

"Each layer of filtering as a reduction of risk for anybody else..., and the numbers (of infections) we're seeing is actually extremely low, and probably lower than we expected to see of anything." IANS

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