Two more athletes were reported COVID-19 positive as the 2020 Tokyo organising committee reported 30 new confirmed cases in the last 24 hours, taking to 131 the total number of positive cases related to the Paralympic Games since 12 August.
As per the data released by the Tokyo 2020 organising committee, besides the two athletes that tested positive, eight cases were reported from among the Games-concerned personnel involving representatives of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), International Olympic Committee (IOC), and international federations. One employee of the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee too tested positive while 16 related to the Tokyo 2020 Contractors have tested positive in the last 24 hours. Two media representatives and one volunteer too flunked the test, thus making it the biggest case-load since they started to test for the Paralympic Games on 12 August.
Of the 30 cases reported on Sunday, 18 are residents of Japan while 12 were outsiders. Most of the non-residents of Japan that tested positive have been put under 14 days of quarantine.
There have been 57 COVID-19 in the last three days, 12 announced on Friday, 15 on Saturday, and 30 on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the organising committee is considering changing rules and conduct more tests on the people concerned with the Paralympic Games.
With COVID-19 infections rising in the Japanese capital, Hidemasa Nakamura, Games delivery officer for Tokyo 2020, admitted organisers face a challenging situation prior to the Paralympics which are due to open next Tuesday (August 24), reports insidethegames.biz.
Nakamura claims the anti-virus measures put in place for the Olympics were effective but revealed they were now looking to make changes to the rules in order to strengthen its defense against Covid-19.
Among the changes under consideration is increasing testing frequency and imposing further restrictions on those accredited for the Paralympics.
"People are required to test every day or every four days or seven," said Nakamura. "This worked during the Games, but the pandemic worsened in Tokyo and we are looking to further upgrade the countermeasures," he was quoted as saying in the report.
The local authorities are also considering restricting the use of public transport by foreigners after completion of their quarantine period, said the report.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)