Olympic delegates' positive tests spur Japan panel's call for tougher border controls

Yasuhiro Yamashita, President of the Japanese Olympic Committee, speaks during a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo

With two members of the Ugandan delegation testing positive after arriving in Japan for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games that start on July 23, organisers are seeking to soothe public concerns that delegations may bring in and spread Covid-19. At a news conference on Monday, Yasuhiro Yamashita, the president of Japan's Olympic Committee, said it was impossible to completely shut out coronavirus cases upon arrival, making it crucial for authorities to spot them at the border. ‘There is just no way there won't be cases arriving in Japan, no matter what we do...that's why it is crucial we make sure to catch cases at the airports and enforce strict border controls,’ Yamashita said. He added that the Tokyo 2020 panel and the government would play a greater role in the quarantine process when new cases are identified among arriving delegations, rather than leaving them to local authorities to handle.