Sports

Tokyo 2020 athletes to be given daily Covid tests

Tokyo, Apr 28 (EFE).- Athletes competing at the Tokyo 2020 will have to undergo daily Covid-19 tests to prevent the spread of the virus at the Olympics, organizers said on Wednesday.

Sportspeople, coaching and medical staff and other Olympic delegations members will have to take two mandatory coronavirus tests before traveling to Japan, the organizers said in a joint statement with the International Olympic and Paralympic committees.

The participants will, in principle, be exempted from the mandatory 14-day quarantine for overseas arrivals, but they will have to undergo another test before being allowed into the country and then be tested daily for as long as they stay in the competition.

They will have to submit and adhere to a detailed activity plan, including all their expected movements, and to minimize contact with other athletes.

Violating these rules could be punishable by disqualification, according to the guidelines for athletes that were published on Wednesday.

They can only use vehicles that have been provided by organizers, while they are only allowed to eat at their accommodation facilities and at competition and training venues.

Vaccination will not be a requirement to compete at the Olympics, although the International Olympics Committee recommends that the national federations promote inoculation among their athletes.

It also pledged logistic support for poorer countries that are struggling to obtain the vaccine.

The presentation of the guidelines came as Tokyo and three other prefectures are placed under a new public health emergency amid a fourth wave of infections.

The organizers and the IOC have postponed until June the decision whether or not to allow local fans to attend the Olympics, due to the current local spike in Covid-19 and the spread of new variants despite the border closure.

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