WORLD
Tokyo Olympics see 1st cluster of COVID-19 infections
Baku, August 4, AZERTAC
The Tokyo Olympic organizing committee said Wednesday five confirmed COVID-19 cases among the Greek artistic swimming team are the first cluster of infections in the athletes' village, according to Kyodo News.
"I have to say it is a cluster," a spokesman for the organizing committee, Masanori Takaya, said after it reported 29 more COVID-19 cases associated with the Olympics, the highest daily count, bringing the cumulative total to over 300.
It said the 29 cases include three Greek artistic swimmers who were staying in the village for the Olympics, which began July 23 amid surging COVID-19 infections in Tokyo and other parts of the country.
On Tuesday, Greece said it will withdraw from artistic swimming competitions as several members of the team have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Among the 12-member Greek artistic swimming team, four athletes and one official have tested positive for COVID-19. All the members, including seven who had tested negative for the virus, had already left the village and relocated to isolation facilities, according to the committee.
The daily figure also includes another athlete from overseas, it said, without identifying from which country. Besides the athletes, they are 19 contractors and four volunteers and two games-linked officials. Of the total, 24 were residents of Japan.
One case reported by the committee on Sunday proved to be negative later and was eliminated from the cumulative total, now standing at 322.