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 Infections
https://www.reuters.com/
world/asia-pacific/coronavirus-incidents-tokyo-olympics-2021-07-15
have hit at least seven teams arriving in Japan barely a week out
from the July 23 opening ceremony and after host city Tokyo reported
its highest daily tally of new COVID-19 infections since late
January.
Health experts and hotel staff say the outbreaks underscore the
risks of holding the world's largest sports event during the middle
of a global pandemic in a largely unvaccinated country.
In one example, 49 members of Brazil's judo team are being kept in
isolation after eight COVID-19 cases were discovered among the staff
at a hotel where they are staying in Hamamatsu, southwest of Tokyo.
None of the judokas have tested positive but frustration over their
isolation is mounting as health officials work to contain the
outbreak.
"People from the city's public health centre are tracking down close
contacts here," a staff member at the Hamanako hotel who did not
want to be identified told Reuters. "There are dozens of regular
guests as well but we're getting cancellations now."
The staff member said athletes are using designated lifts and those
who work with them are prioritised for COVID-19 testing. Meals are
held in the dining area in separate spaces and the athletes are
staying on separate floors.
City official Yoshinobu Sawada said teams were required to sign
formal agreements to follow coronavirus protocols on eating,
movement and transportation restrictions. The infected hotel staff
have been moved to quarantine centres.
Other outbreaks https://tmsnrt.rs/3r8Zv98 among athletes include
members of Olympic delegations from Uganda, Serbia, Israel and
several other nations either testing positive or isolating in their
hotels after being designated as close contacts.
The organising committee did not immediately respond to Reuters'
questions seeking comment.
COMPLEX, COSTLY MEASURES
Games organisers tell hotels to report people with a high
temperature during Olympic team check-ins and say organisers and
public health centres will handle outbreaks or suspected cases,
according to documents the organisers sent to hotels.
Hotels need to provide room service or food delivery to athletes in
isolation, and run different hours or separate spaces for meals
between Olympic guests and regular guests.
The documents say organisers will not cover costs for hotels to
equip rooms with acrylic dividers or provide separate dining spaces
for the athletes.
Tokyo 2020 playbooks for athletes and sports federations call for
attendees to physically distance themselves from others, to wear
masks, and to get tested daily.
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 Those playbooks are working and
being enforced, International Olympic Committee
President Thomas Bach has said, and there was
"zero" risk of Games participants infecting
residents.. Tokyo entered its
fourth state of emergency earlier this week amid a rebound in cases
that pushed Games organisers to ban spectators from nearly all
venues. More than 1,300 new cases were reported on Thursday, the
most in six months.
Most people in Japan think the Games should not go ahead and only
18% are fully vaccinated. UNVACCINATED CLEANING
STAFF
Six hotel officials spoken to by Reuters were mostly worried about
separating athletes from regular guests as well as the safety of
their staff.
Azusa Takeuchi from the Lake Biwa Otsu Prince Hotel, which is
hosting 53 members of New Zealand's rowing team, said staff were
taking COVID-19 tests every four days, wearing masks and providing
contact-free services.
Similar measures were in place at the Ebina Vista Hotel on the
outskirts of Tokyo, according to an Olympic official staying there,
who said he was housed on the seventh floor but not permitted to use
a lift.
"There are guards at each floor 24/7 preventing us from using them.
Instead we are allowed to go from hotel restaurant to our rooms and
back using only external evacuation stairs," said the official, who
did not want to be identified.
Other measures, confirmed by the hotel, include breakfast for the
athletes served before 6:30 a.m. at the restaurant or through meal
boxes delivered to hotel rooms.
Koichi Tsuchiya, the hotel manager, said he worried about his staff.
"I'm scared someone from the cleaning staff would get infected.
People entering guest rooms are scared," said Tsuchiya, adding that
some staff were not vaccinated. "This is making us nervous."
 Tsuchiya also worried about his visitors.
"Travel agents brief the athletes before arrival: you can't do this,
this is not allowed, that is banned. I'm sure the athletes are
extremely stressed," he said.
"As staff, we're doing our best to help them relax. But this is the
situation we're in, so the infection countermeasures are the
priority."
(Additional reporting by Elaine Lies, Sakura Murakami, Rocky Swift,
Ami Miyazaki and Mari Saito; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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