One of Uganda’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic squad tested positive for the new coronavirus on arrival in Japan on Saturday, the first time an infection has been confirmed in an overseas team, Japan’s public media organization NHK reported.
Nine athletes and coaches arrived at Narita airport, near Tokyo, at around 6 p.m. with one of them testing positive during a screening at the airport, the national broadcaster said.
That individual is now staying at a government-designated facility, while the others travelled on to their host city in Osaka, where they will hold their training camp, NHK said.
All of Uganda’s team members had received two shots of AstraZeneca’s vaccine and had tested negative 72 hours before departing for Japan, according to the report.
The long-delayed Tokyo 2020 Summer Games are due to start on July 23 amid concern that the influx of thousands of people from around the world would contribute to the spread of COVID-19.
Organisers are to decide as soon as Monday whether to allow domestic spectators into the stadiums for the Games. Foreign spectators have already been banned.
Discussion on Tokyo Olympics amid COVID-19 pandemic:
The Tokyo 2020 president is eyeing a cap of 10 000 people per venue, even as government health experts warn against in-person audiences. For the opening ceremony, however, officials are considering allowing as many as 20 000 people to attend, Japanese broadcaster Nippon Television reported on Sunday.
The Uganda team was the second group of foreign athletes to arrive for the tournament, following the arrival of the Australian women’s softball squad on June 1.
