The organizing committee for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics announced that two athletes from overseas who have been staying at the Olympic Village in the Japanese capital have tested positive for the coronavirus.
They are the first athletes to test positive for the virus at the Olympic Village, which opened last Tuesday.
A group of indigenous Ainu people in the northern Japanese prefecture of Hokkaido will perform traditional songs and dances at the venue of the Olympic marathon and race walk events in the prefecture, sources say.
The Ainu events will take place in the prefectural capital Sapporo between August 5 and 8.
The organizing committee for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics said on Sunday that two athletes from overseas who have been staying at the Olympic Village in Tokyo tested positive for the coronavirus.
The organizing committee has not disclosed what country or region they are from. These are the first athletes to test positive for the virus at the Olympic Village.
Athletes and sports officials from all over the world are flooding into Japan for the Tokyo Olympics. The Games are scheduled to kick off on Friday.
A plane carrying more than 100 delegates from the Netherlands, India and other countries touched down at Narita Airport near Tokyo on Saturday. Passengers visiting for the Olympics were asked to stay on board until other travelers disembarked.
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach has called on the Japanese people to welcome athletes who are participating in the Tokyo Games despite the pandemic.
In an IOC Executive Board meeting in Tokyo on Saturday, the organizing committee explained the rationale for banning spectators at most of the venues. It also reported on measures taken at airports as well as the coronavirus infection status in Japan.
The Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics organizing committee says a foreign national staying at the Athletes' Village has tested positive for the coronavirus.
This is the first positive case to be confirmed at the village among people from abroad. The facility opened on Tuesday.
Olympic athletes and officials are surging into Tokyo ahead of the Games opening ceremony in six days.
Arrivals at Narita Airport, east of the capital are due to peak from Saturday through Monday. Several hundred athletes and officials are expected on Saturday.
The Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics organizing committee says a foreign national staying at the Athletes' Village has tested positive for the coronavirus.
This is the first positive case to be confirmed among Olympic delegates at the Village.
The Tokyo Games organizing committee said on Thursday that a foreign athlete who is in Japan for the Olympics has tested positive for the coronavirus.
The committee says the athlete in question tested positive on Wednesday. The athlete was observing a 14-day period of self-isolation and has not entered the Athletes' Village.
Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has expressed his determination to make the upcoming Tokyo Olympics safe and secure by taking all possible measures against the coronavirus.
Suga made the remarks during a meeting with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach on Wednesday.
Olympic organizers are trying to stir up some fresh enthusiasm as a long and unusual road to the Games enters its final leg. With Tokyo under another state of emergency, the sporting event is facing new scrutiny.
Thomas Bach, the IOC President, on Tuesday met with the head of the Tokyo Organizing Committee in person for the first time in months.
The athletes' village for the Tokyo Games opened on Tuesday, 10 days before the opening ceremony of the Games. But unlike in the past, there was no ceremony or special event to welcome delegations due to precautions against the coronavirus.
On opening day, some officials from Japan and other countries were spotted entering and leaving the village, but athletes were nowhere to be seen.
The governor of Miyagi Prefecture in northern Japan has emphasized that his plan to allow Olympic soccer spectators into a local stadium remains unchanged.
Murai Yoshihiro told reporters on Tuesday that the heads of local municipalities other than Sendai City as well as business groups have suggested that Olympic soccer matches should be held with spectators.
Local governments in Japan are rushing to rethink assignments for volunteers recruited to act as city guides following the decision to hold most events of the Tokyo Olympics without spectators.
Organizers of the Tokyo Games decided on Thursday to ban spectators in Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures. They announced later that venues in the prefectures of Hokkaido and Fukushima will also have no fans.