TOKYO – Japan has begun arrangements to settle for foreign athletes for the Tokyo Summer Olympics, with the aim of completing the games after one year of delay due to the pandemic, while ensuring the protection of participants.
Immigration control and transit in Japan for athletes were some of the issues discussed Wednesday through government officials, the Japanese Olympic Committee and the host city of Tokyo. Japan is expected to ease access restrictions for foreign visitors starting next month.
Under existing restrictions, foreigners entering Japan will have to isolate themselves for 14 days in designated locations. The government’s plan eliminates the quarantine requirement for foreign athletes, allowing them to exercise and prepare.
But athletes were asked to sing in choir so as not to go anywhere other than the Olympic Village, its hotel and the educational site. They would like to record their movements within the country and the mode of transport. Athletes who violate the rules could potentially be expelled from the Olympics.
The Ministry of Health plans to use its Cocoa touch and GPS tracking app to prevent outbreaks. A plan would distribute smartphones to all athletes, offering a way to give clues to those who come into close contact with other positive people.
Athletes must have evidence of negative control within 72 hours of their departure to Japan. Additional checks would be carried out on the front line of the country, as well as in its education camps, in the Olympic Village and at the venues of the occasion. the timing and frequency of checks will be at a later date.
When traveling between the educational camp, the Olympic Village and the venues, athletes avoid public transport and instead take the designated cars.
The government seeks to ensure that protocols do not extend between educational camps and cities that house athletes, and will expand the rules that local governments will use to prepare manuals detailing transit plans for athletes, hotel zoning, and how to deal with positive cases. The government will equip municipalities with physical fitness disorders and screening capacity.
Major sports tournaments have been held in the United States and Europe with strict countermeasures against coronaviruses.
In tennis, the US Open in New York did not allow participants to enter without a negative PCR (polymer chain reaction) test. Players were re-examined within 48 hours, then once every 4 days. disqualified delay, according to the rules. Of the 6,500 tests carried out in the tournament, 99. 97% tested negative.
The British Women’s Open, held in August, closed to spectators, with players limited to its hotels and golf courses. PCR testing was mandatory for the other 500 people involved in the event.
Noting the positive reception of the public for the resumption of play around the world, The president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, said in a letter open Tuesday: “We also see that the game can be organized safely, even with existing restrictions. “
In a phone call with Bach on Wednesday, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said, “We look forward to continuing to run together to host an Olympic Games. “
The Japanese government, seeking full cancellation of the Summer Games, will work to detail the countermeasures that oppose the coronaviruses.
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