Tokyo 2020 organizers estimate 7 daily Covid cases at games

Tokyo, Jun 12 (EFE).- The organizers of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games estimate that there will be about seven Covid-19 cases per day among people involved in the event, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported Saturday.

The estimate was presented at a Friday meeting of experts on anti-covid measures, and was prepared by the organizing committee and the Tokyo authorities based on the number of people who tested positive during a test event conducted in May.

The calculation is based on the participation of about 77,000 people, including athletes and personnel, although it does not take into account the administration of vaccines between them, so the real figures could be lower.

In a worst-case scenario, the organizers expect one athlete and 10 other participants to be hospitalized a day, and about 57 people who would be asked to quarantine.

The organizers will use the estimates to try to secure enough medical staff to meet the needs during the event without impacting local health systems.

Tokyo 2020 estimates that it will need about 230 doctors and 310 nurses a day, of which it has already filled 90 percent and 80 percent of the positions, respectively, according to the most recent figures.

The International Olympic Committee expects that more than 80 percent of the residents of the Olympic Village will arrive in Japan vaccinated.

The country has already begun immunizing its athletes, coaches and other personnel involved in the Games, while deliberating whether to inoculate its approximately 70,000 volunteers and local journalists.

The calculations do not take potential spectators into account.

Tokyo 2020 has already announced that there will be no spectators from outside the country allowed in, but it continues to debate the presence of a national public and the amount, if any. The committee plans to make an announcement on this before the end of June.

According to the latest estimates of the organization, around 42 percent of the initial available tickets have been sold, the total number of which it has not provided. EFE

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