As Tokyo Olympics near, COVID-19 cases in the Olympic Village put protocols to the test

TOKYO – For more than a year, Olympic organizers have worked with a group of experts to design the COVID-19 countermeasures for the Summer Games in Tokyo.

Now, just a few days before the opening ceremony, those protocols are being tested for the first time.

Four people in the Olympic Village, including three athletes, tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend, according to newsreleases from their respective Olympic committees. The group includes two men's soccer players from South Africa, a video analyst on the team and a Czech beach volleyball player.

NEVER MISS A MEDAL: Sign up for our Olympic newsletter now

TEXT WITH US AT TOKYO OLYMPICS: Subscribe to texts, where we’ll be your official guide to the Games

Officials said all four of the infected individuals are now isolating at a hotel, which is serving as a quarantine facility during the Games.

"The important thing is the response to the positive cases," Tokyo 2020 spokesperson Masa Takaya said Monday. "We cannot say that there will be no positive cases, given that we have a massive number of people engaged in the project. But there is no significant rise in the positive test rate compared to any other place."

Even before the official start of competition, COVID-19 has become a constant theme – and concern – for athletes and staff, with more than 22,000 Olympic visitors now in Tokyo and an additional 60,000 still expected to arrive.

The head coach of South Africa's sevens rugby team, an IOC member from South Korea, American tennis starlet Coco Gauff and the leader of the Refugee Olympic Team are among the Olympic stakeholders whose plans have been curtailed by positive tests so far.

U.S. officials also confirmed Monday that an alternate on the high-profile U.S. women's gymnastics team tested positive at a pre-Games training camp.

However, it is the positive tests among athletes in the Olympic Village that could prove to be the most significant.

In the case of the South African trio, organizers said Monday that they had identified 21 other individuals as close contacts, meaning they might have been exposed to the virus. Takaya said all 21 people had so far recorded negative tests but they are now under a more strict set of protocols – instructed to eat alone in their rooms, for example, and take dedicated vehicles to training sessions instead of team buses. 

Takaya indicated that the majority of those 21 close contacts are other players on the soccer team, which is set to play Japan on Thursday.

Athletes who are identified as close contacts must take a PCR test six hours before a game and test negative in order to compete.

"These are the strict guidelines we are putting in place as we work closely with the IOC, experts and relevant authorities," Takaya said. "With these measures, we'll see if the South African team will be able to participate."

In the case of the other athlete who tested positive in the Olympic Village – Czech beach volleyball player Ondřej Perušič – the country's Olympic committee said in a statement that it is exploring the possible postponement of Perušič's opening match, scheduled for July 26.

The positive tests among athletes have stoked fears of a possible outbreak in the Olympic Village, which would be the nightmare scenario for organizers.

The IOC and Tokyo 2020 have each sought to reassure athletes that the Olympic Village is safe and secure. IOC executive director Christophe Dubi stressed the difference between "a COVID safe environment" and one that is "COVID free."

"I don't think we can ever say COVID-free," Dubi said.

From July 1 to Monday, a total of 58 individuals connected with the Games had tested positive for COVID-19, according to the organizing committee. Those include contract workers, journalists, team personnel and athletes. 

Another IOC representative, Brian McCloskey, said the positive tests thus far are proof that the protocols are working. 

"What we're seeing is what we expected to see, essentially," said McCloskey, the chair of an independent expert panel that is advising the IOC on its COVID-19 countermeasures.

"If I thought all the tests that we did were going to be negative, then I wouldn't go on doing the tests in the first place. We do the tests because they are a way of filtering out people who might be developing infection, who might become a risk later."

Contributing: The Associated Press

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.